{"id":14819,"date":"2018-03-12T17:29:12","date_gmt":"2018-03-12T17:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/?p=14819"},"modified":"2018-03-12T17:29:12","modified_gmt":"2018-03-12T17:29:12","slug":"ab-de-villiers-keeping-it-simple-for-south-africa-after-successful-test-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/2018\/03\/12\/ab-de-villiers-keeping-it-simple-for-south-africa-after-successful-test-return\/","title":{"rendered":"AB de Villiers keeping it simple for South Africa after successful Test return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone thinking AB de Villiers has a complicated list of goals left to achieve in the twilight of his career will be disappointed \u2014 for once \u2014 by one of the best cricketers of his generation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very basic,\u201d de Villiers said when asked what\u2019s left. \u201cJust to be part of a successful Test team.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that simple for de Villiers, who returned to Test cricket late last year after a break of nearly two years, and returned to the AB of old with 126 not out against Australia in the second Test on Sunday.<\/p>\n

He just wants to win a few more matches with South Africa.<\/p>\n

De Villiers, part of South Africa\u2019s team for more than 13 years, is managing his time at the very end of his career and took a sabbatical from Tests at the start of 2016, a break that lasted until December last year.<\/p>\n

For the first time, there were murmurs of disapproval from South Africans, suddenly denied the chance to enjoy de Villiers\u2019 batting displays that often put him on a different level altogether to those around him.<\/p>\n

That was certainly the case in Port Elizabeth against the Australians, where de Villiers\u2019 century on an arduous pitch was of such quality that the opposition\u2019s reaction, not for the first time in his career, was tantamount to shrugging their shoulders and applauding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was one pretty special innings and it seemed like he was batting on a different wicket,\u201d Australia assistant coach David Saker said.<\/p>\n

Ironic that de Villiers, often able to rise above the drudge of Test cricket out in the middle with a bat in his hands, became weighed down with the pressures of playing and all that comes with it off the field \u2014 traveling, training, media and sponsorship commitments, time away from a young family.<\/p>\n

Being so good also meant that South Africa at times wanted him to play all formats of the game, be captain of the team, keep wicket and, of course, be the top batsman that he is.<\/p>\n

So he decided to step back for a little while.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that he fell out of love with test cricket, de Villiers said, but rather fell out of love with the amount he was playing. No longer the 20-year-old making his debut for South Africa, he\u2019s a 34-year-old husband and father of two boys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never lost my love for the game,\u201d he said. \u201cI was just tired of playing. I was just flat, physically, mentally. Quite a few other factors. I became a dad at the same time, all of a sudden two boys are around and I\u2019ve got a family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was just a lot that was going on in my life and I felt like I needed to breathe a little bit. I won\u2019t say I lost my love for the game. I think that showed today. I\u2019ve always loved playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

With time, the dyed blonde hair has gone, replaced by a more mature short back and sides. The trademark toothy grin remains, as do the marketable, flashing strokes all around the wicket.<\/p>\n

De Villiers still felt he had to prove himself again.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re always just a couple of innings away from people saying, \u2018Hold on, is he still good enough?\u2019\u201c he said. \u201cThose kinds of things were in my mind. I was very motivated to prove to everyone that I can still play the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

He can definitely still play. Happily for the game, the temporary break from test cricket has produced a rejuvenated de Villiers who is ready for a little more. But even AB can\u2019t bat time back over the bowler\u2019s head and, at 34, his permanent break with all cricket isn\u2019t too far away now.<\/p>\n

(AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone thinking AB de Villiers has a complicated list of goals left to achieve in the twilight of his career will be disappointed — for once — by one of the best cricketers of his generation. “It’s very basic,” de Villiers said when asked what’s left. “Just to be part of a successful Test team.” It’s that simple for de Villiers, who returned to Test cricket late last year after a break of nearly two years, and returned to the AB of old with 126 not out against Australia in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14820,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14819"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14819"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14821,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14819\/revisions\/14821"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.banglanewsus.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}