New Delhi: South African talisman AB de Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket on Wednesday, saying he was tired and had run "out of gas" after 14 years in the top league.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

The 34-year-old former South African skipper said his jaded body was no longer in a position to take the rigours of international cricket after a staggering 420 matches across three formats with over 20,000 runs and 47 hundred. He averaged over 50 in both the Tests and ODIs. 


De Villiers holds the records for the fastest 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls) and 150 (64 balls) of all time in One Day Internationals. The swashbuckling batsman is a three-time ICC ODI player of the year, clinching the trophy in 2010, 2014 and 2015.


Following are some of the tributes that the cricketing world heaped on him:













"I have decided to retire from all international cricket with immediate effect. After 114 Test matches, 228 ODI's and 78 T20 Internationals, it is time for others to take over. I have had my turn, and to be honest, I am tired," de Villiers announced through a video message on social networking site Twitter.  "This is a tough decision, I have thought long and hard about it and I'd like to retire while still playing decent cricket. After the fantastic series wins against India and Australia, now feels like the right time to step aside," he added. 


"It would not be right for me to pick and choose where, when and in what format I play for the Proteas. For me, in the green and gold, it must be everything or nothing. I will always be grateful to the coaches and staff of Cricket South Africa (CSA) for their support through all these years. The most important thank you goes out to all of my teammates throughout my career, I wouldn't be half the player that I am without the support throughout the years," de Villiers said.


(With PTI inputs)