AB de Villiers Opens Up About Pre-Retirement Eye Injury, Says 'Luckily My Left Eye Did Decent Job...'

Widely recognised as Mr 360 for his stylish and versatile batting, AB de Villiers stands as one of the finest batters ever produced by South African cricket.

de Villiers bid farewell to international cricket in May 2018, marking the end of an illustrious career. Despite his retirement, the cricketing maestro continued to showcase his skills in franchise-based Twenty20 leagues, famously representing Royal Challengers Bangalore in Indian Premier League.

Amidst his stellar performances in the T20 circuit, speculations arose regarding a potential international comeback, with eyes set on the 2019 World Cup. However, de Villiers remained resolute in his decision, choosing not to alter the course he had set for himself.

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Over two years since his last professional match, de Villiers revealed a crucial detail about an eye injury he sustained shortly before his retirement during an interview with Wisden Cricket Monthly. The star batter said he played the last two years of his career with a detached retina.

“My youngster accidentally kicked me on my eye with his heel. I started really losing vision in the right eye. When I got the surgery done the doctor actually asked me, ‘How in the world did you play cricket like this?’. Luckily my left eye did a decent job for the last two years of my career,” Wisden Cricket Monthly quoted de Villiers as saying.

Delving into the rationale behind maintaining his international retirement, de Villiers pointed to the role played by the global pandemic. He acknowledged that the 2015 World Cup defeat had a profound impact, and it took considerable time for him to overcome that setback.

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“Covid certainly played a role, there’s no doubt about it. From an international perspective, that 2015 World Cup hurt big time. It took me a while to get over that and then, when I got back into the side and I was ready to commit, I didn’t feel the same culture that I really needed at that time,” the star batter added.

de Villiers boasts impressive statistics across formats. In Tests, he has played 114 matches, scoring 8,765 runs at an average of 51. In ODIs, with 228 matches, he accumulated 9,577 runs at an average of 54. His T20 career comprises 78 matches, with 1,672 runs at an average of 26.