Felt like my first game again, says AB de Villiers post whirlwind 176

Courtesy: PTI

Johannesburg: Swashbuckling South Africa batsman AB de Villiers, who smashed a career-best 176 to set up a series-clinching 104-run against Bangladesh, has said he was quite nervous and it felt like his first knock for the team when he walked out to bat at 90/2.

De Villiers smashed 15 fours and 7 sixes during his 104-ball knock against Bangladesh at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday.

The swashbuckling batsman, who has only recently made himself available for the Proteas in all formats following a break from the game, fell just 12 runs short of Gary Kirsten`s 188* - the highest score by a South African in ODI cricket.

"I was quite nervous starting off ... it felt like my first game again walking out to bat," Sport24 quoted the 33-year-old said as saying.

"It`s great to be back. It`s a huge privilege to play for my team and my country. For the last few months I`ve been working really hard on my game and all I wanted to do was get back into the side," he added.

De Villiers insisted that what he need was a couple of months away with the family, which he got during the break.And he feels that he is at the very top of his game right now.

"I`m hitting the ball as well as ever and it felt that way out there ... I could feel the ball coming off really well," he said.

"I just want to get my rhythm going and get as many as I can for the team. It`s not something I play for," he added.

De Villiers already holds the records for the fastest 50, 100 and 150 in ODIs, and was on course to break Chris Gayle`s record of scoring the fastest ODI double-century, in just 138 balls.