It’s been 4 years since AB de Villiers retired from cricket. The immensely talented batter was 37 at the time. In his final Indian Premier League (IPL) season, ABD still scored 313 runs at 31.30 and struck at 148.34. These numbers are acceptable to this day, but AB achieved them in 2021.
Many felt he retired too early. Someone with his kind of talent could have easily played more. However, the 360-degree batter revealed that he played the last 2 years of his international cricket with a detached retina in his right eye. The issue persisted, and that’s why it was the right time to call time on his cricket career.
4 years later, ABD is still sharp as a tack. Currently playing in the World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025 as part of the South Africa Champions, de Villiers has scored his second consecutive hundred. Opening the batting, he scored a 41-ball hundred against England Champions on July 24.
WATCH: AB de Villiers goes ballistic in WCL 2025
He missed the next match against the Pakistan Champions. Coming back well rested, ABD has scored a 39-ball hundred against the Australia Champions. He ended up scoring 123 runs from 46 balls, hitting 15 fours and 8 sixes. And unsurprisingly, he brought up his hundred with a reverse sweep.
The Australian attack is led by Brett Lee. But Peter Siddle, Steve O’Keefe, Josh Hastings, Dan Christian, and D’Arcy Short aren’t mugs. But for someone of ABD’s calibre, even after his retirement, he’s way too good to be bothered by them. For someone who toyed with Mitchell Johnson in his prime, this Aussie attack was nothing for him. As he did in his prime, he dismantled them with relative ease.
If the South African champions beat the Australia champions, they’ll qualify for the WCL 2025 semifinal, and we will see ABD bat at least once more. And who knows, he might score another hundred.
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