AB de Villiers will always be the most missed cricketer...

There couldn't have been a better time to look back at the career and the phenomenon of AB de Villiers than right now. South Africa succumbed to a 2-0 whitewash against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. But it isn't only the scoreline that hurts them but the manner of defeats adds insult to injury. In the first test, Proteas' both innings combined total couldn't overhaul Sri Lanka's first innings total itself. Kagiso Rabada looked good in the first test and so did Maharaj in the second when he took a record 9 wickets in the 1st innings but none of the South African batsmen except Theunis de Bruyne looked confident. The likes of Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar even the mighty Hash looked completely outdone by the Lankan spinners. youngsters like Aiden Markram, Quinton de Kock promised a lot but failed to deliver on these dust bowls as is the case so often when foreign teams travel to the sub continent. Dale Styen made a comeback to the international cricket but it is fair to say that he is nearing his end sooner rather than later.

    If South Africa were going to miss one player more than anyone, it was always going to be AB de Villiers and was there ever any doubt about it! South Africa had the experience of Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla, Faf, de Kock, Philander, Dale Styen because of the number of times they had toured the subcontinent before. They had the youngsters with plenty of pedigree such as Kagiso Rabada, Temba Bavuma, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi etc. And boy, they surely had the skillset to counter the Sri Lankans, didn't they? So what did they lack? To me, it's the attitude and that is where AB de Villiers must get a mention because he was a man with extraordinary abilities but still he was holding the bat with 2 hands as the others, he used to dance down the track on a couple of feet only and he used to pick spinners off their hand a day before and smash the fast bowlers as if it was no real trouble to him but he used to see the ball with a couple of eyes only, didn't he? So it is his attitude that made him special. I remember when Ashwin and Jadeja were bowling South Africa out for breakfast in 2015, o South African was prepared to use their feet and get to the pitch of the ball and negate the spin. Because once you leave the crease, you must get to the pitch of the ball otherwise you would be caught in no man's land. Batsman as composed as Hashim Amla who had scored 3 centuries on his previous trip to India when the pitches were flat looked completely bamboozled because playing from the crease on the backfoot didn't work against Jadeja's quick, sharp venomous deliveries. AB didn't get a century in the series but I think he went past 80 three times. Everytime AB came to the crease, Kohli put at least a couple of fielders on the fence because AB alwasy stepped out to spinners off his first few balls just to make a statement to the bowler that it is not only you who is dectating the terms! 

   When Australia toured South Africa in 2014, it was Mitchell Johnson who was in the news all over after a scintillating Ashes campaign where he took 37 wickets and the Englishmen had absolutely no idea of how to handle his pace. Johnson continued his form and took 12 wickets in the first test at Centurion, bouncing out many and breaking Ryan Mclaren's index finger! AB was there to save the day for South Africa. He scored 91 against the pace of Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle but the trademark shot of that innings was when AB drove Mitchell Johnson through the covers after ducking the previous bouncer very comfortably. South Africa lost the match but AB went on to score a hundred in the second test in Port Elizabeth, the only match they managed to win in a 1-2 series loss. There was the other side to this gem as well. In the same 2014 series against the Aussies, Proteas had to bat for a draw and the great man put the curtain down on all the attacking instincts to play for the team. He played over 150 deliveries for less than 30 runs but more importantly he batted for over 4 hours to defy the odds.

   AB played many memorable innings and if I mention those, it would not be fair on people who remember every bit of it. AB de Villiers was without doubt, the greatest entertainer of this generation and if we are talking all time, he would probably come second behind Viv Richards who according to many was the most destructive of all time. For most people, AB is all about those extravagent revesre sweeps and those exotic laps, isn't it? Yes those shots became the whats app wallpapers and stories for many people but I don't thnik anybody was better than AB in the 'V'. His straight drives or on drives were as good as anybody. In fact I don't think anybody played lofted shots straight down the ground as cleanly as him. His fielding was second to none. Without a shadow of doubt he was one of the best fielders going around. There are many quotes on AB but the most fascinating one was when Shaun Pollock said on commentary just after AB had taken a wicket with his part time medium pace- 'If he doesn't bat, he fields. If he doesn't field, he keeps. If he doesn't keep he bowls!' There is absolutely nothing that AB de Villiers could not do on a cricket field.

   AB's career was truly a great one but not one of the most decorated ones. He owns many records but the only thing that eluded him is an international trophy which is as sad as it can ever get. A player like AB was always going to leave on a high and the test series victories against India and Australia was the perfect farewell for him. Though this South African team has a lot of pedigree and talent, it was has some tired legs. It will be one of the most difficult jobs to find a replacement for the greatest cricketer South Africa have ever produced. Just as Marcus Trescothick's void was felt by Englishmen for many years, AB has left a void in world cricket that can never be filled.