'Would want to compete with Surya and Kohli' - AB de Villiers on his potential comeback to professional cricket

Former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers is one of the greatest batters of the modern era of international cricket. De Villiers left fans awestruck with his inventive strokeplay on the pitch and his ability to adapt to different formats of the game. The former South Africa captain announced an abrupt retirement from international cricket in May 2018 at the age of 34.

He further announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in 2021 and is not seen playing anywhere in the world. Recently, the legendary cricketer admitted that he retired much early in his career and if he were to make a comeback on the cricket pitch, he would love to compete with Suryakumar Yadav and Virat Kohli.

"Definitely. I could still play. But the drive is not there anymore. It's always just about being the best. I want to be the best if I come back and I'll want to compete with Surya and Kohli..," de Villiers said on JioCinema.

Notably, de Villiers played with Kohli while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and had several memorable partnerships with him. On the other hand, Suryakumar Yadav is compared with him these days for his 360-degree strokeplay.

Further reflecting on his retirement, de Villiers revealed that he lost his drive to be the best in the world and one can't be the best by playing just two or three months in his career.

“I definitely didn't play enough cricket towards the back end of my career. I could never just play for two or three months of the year because I want to be the best in the world, and you can't do that if you play for three months of the year. Absolutely no chance. Yes. You can practice for nine months. But nothing, nothing compares middle practice with being out there and competition,” he added.

During his playing de Villiers was known to bat in any situation be it playing a defensive knock to draw a Test match or scoring quick-fire hundreds for his team in limited-overs cricket. During his 15-year-long international career, he was awarded the prestigious title of ICC ODI Player of the Year three times.

Among the several records the 39-year-old holds, the most mind-boggling ones are the fastest 50 (16 balls),  fastest 100 (31 balls), and fastest 150 (64 balls) in One Day Internationals.