“Started Losing Vision” – AB de Villiers’ Revelation On Playing With Detached Retina In Last 2 Years Of His Career

Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers has revealed that he played the last two years of his career with an eye problem. The Proteas great explained how one of his children kicked him in the eye and injured it. Ab de Villiers was one of the best batsmen to ever play for South Africa. Not many have been able to do what he achieved in his career and it is fair to say that he changed the dynamics of modern cricket with the brand of cricket he played. However, he cried a lot when he announced his international retirement in 2018. Ab de Villiers then continued to play franchise cricket. The batsman was the heart and soul of RCB and played a brilliant brand of cricket during the period he was with them.

In a shocking revelation, AB de Villiers revealed that he played the last two years of his cricket with a detached retina. He explained how even the doctors were surprised after his surgery. Speaking to Wisden Cricket Monthly, he said:

“My young man accidentally kicked my eye with his heel. I actually started losing vision in the right eye. When I underwent the surgery, the doctor actually asked me, 'How in the world did you play cricket like this?'. Fortunately, my left eye worked fine in the last two years of my career. It's fair to say that with the kind of performances he put in over the last two years of his career, it didn't seem like he had any problems with his eye. The knock set the IPL on fire for RCB and ended up as one of the league's greatest players. He ended his T20 career with a strike rate of 9,424 runs at 150.13 in 320 innings. His 9,424 runs also include four centuries and 69 fifties.

I didn't experience the same culture - Ab de Villiers on his international retirement
AB de Villiers also opened up about his decision to retire from international cricket and why he didn't take it back. He also admitted that he was completely shattered after the 2015 World Cup and after that, he didn't find the culture he wanted in the team. He added that he pushed to play Tests against Australia and India as his last in international cricket.

“Covid definitely plays a role, no doubt. From an international perspective, the 2015 World Cup had a major impact. It took me a while to get over it and then, when I got back on the sidelines and I was ready to commit, I didn't really feel the culture I needed at the time.

“I often find myself thinking, I don't know, eh? Could this be the end of my career? I really didn't want to play IPL or anything. I got away from everything in 2018 and then decided to push one more time with some Test cricket, try to beat India and Australia here, and then I'll call it quits. I didn't want any spotlight on me. I just wanted to say, 'I had a great time, thank you very much'.