5 cricketers who announced a sudden retirement
It is a cycle which every team goes through and it comes at some point or the other.
Ab de Villiers
AB de Villiers was a good wicket-keeper apart from being a remarkable fielder but, for the most part of his career, he played solely as a batsman. He currently holds the record for the fastest fifty, fastest hundred, fastest 150, fastest test century by a South African and the fastest Twenty20 international fifty by a South African.
One thing which has eluded de Villiers is winning a World Cup. The 2015 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand was one of the heartbreaking moments for South Africa as New Zealand clinched the thriller when Grant Elliott hit the second last ball for a six.
The South Africans, including Morne Morkel and de Villiers, burst out crying on the field as South Africa choked in yet another knockout game. On 23rd May 2018, De Villiers announced his retirement from international cricket which came as a shock to the cricketing world as the fans expected him to retire after the 2019 World Cup.
He tweeted “I’ve had my turn, and to be honest, I’m tired”. De Villiers called it quits, having played 114 tests and 228 ODIs with an average of above 50 in both the formats.
Written by Aayushman Vishwanathan
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