AB de Villiers

thumb|AB de Villiers Abraham Benjamin de Villiers (born 17 February 1984) is a South African former professional cricketer, widely recognized as one of the greatest batters of all time. While primarily a batter, he also played as a wicket-keeper. Quotes I prefer to be out of the spotlight, to be honest, I’ve always been that kind of personality. When I became captain of the Proteas, things changed a bit. But I’ve always enjoyed having some personal time away from the game. Those are the kinds of things I really enjoy. But I truly believe that players who tell you they don’t feel the pressure of international cricket, being away from home for months at a time, are lying to everyone and themselves It’s been unbearable at times: the pressure you have to face, performing day in and day out. The expectations that you put on yourself, from fans, from the country, from coaches. It is huge, and it’s something that’s on your mind all the time as a cricketer. And it’s definitely something that I’m not going to miss. I’m very happy to have stepped away. Absolutely no regrets I feel there is room for players to be more honest about it, having systems in place to make sure they keep fresh and mentally healthy. I was certainly not mentally ill at the time, but I can relate to the fact that pressure can really drive you down, and make you so tired. I know nothing will compare to that feeling of scoring hundreds in a big game,Thousands of people chanting your name. But in all fairness, I don’t miss it. Not yet. Maybe a year down the line. I’m still going to play for a few years; I’ll still play a little bit around the world. But on my own terms. What AB de Villiers did next: One of cricket’s great superstars on the ‘unbearable’ pressures and his new life, August 2018, The INDEPENDENT by Jonathan Lewis I try and make sure that I see the ball coming out of the bowler’s hands, and then my technique and my body take over. I clear my mind, and see the ball out of the bowler’s hand - that’s all I think about in all three of the formats Lots of guys have played a part in helping me, but ultimately I educated through the hardships myself I went through the bad form myself. And I can mention 200 people who have had an influence on my career and my batting. I literally can. I can name all of them Significantly, in the team, Kallis, because our techniques are similar. He helped me a little bit sometimes. Boucher. I am not going to start because I might end up literally mentioning a lot of people. Every single guy somewhere along the line played a part in helping me with my career. Not only in my batting but a lot of other stuff. Once again, the advice I give any youngster coming through and talking to me is to learn himself. Understanding my strengths and weaknesses has been the biggest thing. I didn't understand these kinds of things when I came into international cricket. My technique and my talent have always been there, and just understanding what kind of shots I can play on different wickets. Getting to know my own game has been the biggest thing. Some guys take longer to know their own game. Some guys pick it up very quickly. Two thousand and eight. That's when I started to develop my defensive game. It became a lot more difficult to get me out. That's been key to me. I don't think there were too many things I didn't know about. A lot of things came naturally to me . I learnt my defensive game in 2008. That was new to me. Before that I played for four and a half, five years without knowing exactly what was going on. Still, having the ability, the talent, to clear the boundary when I needed to, playing with a very competitive edge, loved winning from a very young age. I understood how teams worked from the word go, and a lot of things I did know, except for my strengths and weaknesses as a batsman I felt it was difficult to keep me from scoring, but it was easy to get me out because eventually I would make a mistake because of my attacking nature. So just having that hunger to eliminate those kind of weaknesses I was getting out lbw a lot. I think people still try it these days, but I think I am a lot better now. I think in 2005, Mark Boucher approached me and he told me that a lot of teams were going to try to get me out lbw because they feel I am weak straight. He planted a little seed in my head that defensively I am not very good. All it takes is to bowl straight at me for long periods of time and I will get out. So I wanted to eliminate that, and I had the hunger to turn that around. When you get to know your own game really well, things happen a little slower. Pressure situations don't fly past you. You have more time to make good decisions. Just hard work, I think. Lots of hours of practice. Hunger. The desire to turn it around. It was never part of my game before, to play a ball late and to block it. I always wanted to either look to score a boundary or come down really hard at the ball But if you want something in life and you go after it, you tend to get closer to it than you think you can Before I knew it, in 2008, I was playing in Ahmedabad, in a Test match, and that's when I played the late defensive shot for the first time in my life. What I discovered about my batting in 2008 was monumental and integral to my batting career. My motto would be, if I bat through I would come close anyway. I know how to score my runs without taking too many risks. Similar to what we did against India at the Wanderers. There is always a time when the bowlers start feeling a bit of pressure, the momentum turns around It was difficult but we knew it was possible for us to bat through. The thing about the Wanderers is, it is difficult to stop runs. Knowing that we just needed to bat time, it showed we kept scoring without really trying too much My mindset in all three formats, in any situation, is exactly the same. I just want to get myself in, get myself a nice foundation to hopefully attack and dominate the bowlers. After a period what I call - let's say a period when you have got to earn the right to dominate the bowling. In some innings it takes one ball, sometimes it takes 10 overs, sometimes five overs… In the warm-up game against not such a strong team it took me more or less 15 overs to feel that I am in. Whereas against the first [full-strength] Indian team that I played in Mumbai [in the ODI], after two balls I felt in. It changes. Every time I go out to bat I have got the same mindset. Nothing changes. All the formats. Any situation of the game. I just look at the scoreboard and I try to figure out what's required for the team. Do they need me to stay around? Do they need me to bat for 10 overs, 20 overs? Must I be attacking from the word go? Just a moment you feel comfortable. You have seen what they are throwing at you, you have encountered all of it, they haven't got you out yet and then it takes an over from a bowler to show a bit of weakness, and then I get a bit of momentum on my side and that's when I start going. It's just a feeling of understanding the flow of the game, of understanding what's required, and then feeling comfortable within my game plans to achieve that. I play for the team. I can leave the answer right there. If I get 30 off 200, [it is] because that's what's required for the team. In order for us to win matches, draw matches, whatever is necessary. I've let go of that fear of failing, Nov 2015, Cricinfo by Sidharth Monga External links Category:Cricketers from South Africa Category:Living people Category:1984 births