I still believe that I've a role to play for the RCB: AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers, one of the most gifted and talented batters of all time, opened up about an uncertain offing that looms in front of him. However, he is assured of the fact that he has a role to play for his national team and his IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore that has given him so much love.

One of the most iconic batters of the sport announced his retirement from all forms of the game last year in November just ahead of the retention day for the IPL franchises.

He was heard quoting to Times LIVE, “I still believe that I have a role to play in SA cricket and also over there in the IPL with the Royal Challengers Bangalore.”

Alongside the overwhelming 20,014 runs in his repertoire, AB also boasts of records that claim the fastest fifty, century and 150 in ODIs. He also managed to rack up 4522 runs from 157 matches that he has played for RCB at an astonishing average and an electrifying strike rate.

He also said, “I have no idea what will come next but I will take it one day at a time and see.”

He continued, “No one knows about it and hopefully I can look back one day in the future knowing that I have made a big difference in the lives of a few players. That is my focus for now and I don't know if it's going to be professional or on a casual basis, but we will see where we go with that."

AB also opened up about the personal challenges that he had to go through, especially with the onset of the pandemic. He quoted, “Having to go to the IPL twice last year where we had to deal with a lot of travelling restrictions, Covid-19 testing, missed and cancelled flights, and having to organise school for the kids was very challenging.”

He also said, “I decided over the past few years that I am not going to travel without my kids anymore and the split IPL really made it very complicated. Probably the biggest challenge was to stay sane, motivated and keeping the energy. I also picked up Covid-19 at some stage and I was really sick for 10 to 12 days and luckily I got through it. Those were the challenges and there were basic stresses of life with the pandemic floating around.”

AB talked about the challenges that he braved while being a part of the IPL. He quoted, “By a long way, the travelling arrangements and the IPL have been the biggest challenge this year (2021) and finding that energy to still want to be the best in the world was difficult.”

AB also confessed how times changed for him as he was heard quoting, “And the minute where I felt the difficulty of travelling and being there at the IPL for two-and-half to three months a year, specifically with this one that was split into two, bubbles and this and that made things very complicated with regards to cricket and the enjoyment thereof.”

The South African hard-hitter continued, “I found myself on the park where scoring runs and doing well for the team didn't really match with everything that goes with it anymore and that's where the balance started leading towards hanging my gloves up.”

 “I have never been the guy who is going to push every single bit of energy of my ability and my cricketing skill, I have always played for the enjoyment of the game. And the minute that sort of started going down, I knew it was time for me to move on."