Graeme Smith insists that losing AB de Villiers is like taking Virat Kohli out of Indian team
Graeme Smith has stated that losing the āirreplaceableā AB de Villiers has been a big loss to Cricket South Africa and insisted that it was like taking Virat Kohli out of the Indian squad. Smith pointed out that South Africa must prepare for the challenging transition that lies ahead for the team.
The untimely retirement of AB de Villiers has taken the whole cricketing world by shock and more so Cricket South Africa, who have lost their ace batsman. Former South African captain Graeme Smith has stated that it was a huge blow to South Africa and now that de Villiers is gone, the team must prepare for the upcoming challenging transition.Ā Ā
The South African batting talisman announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket last week after a glittering career spanning close to 14 years. The 34-year-old has made his mark in world cricket by playing some unorthodox cricket and gave the cricketing world a whole different range of shots. Every now and then he also plucked out an near impossible catch for a human being. There was barely a dull moment for the spectators when de Villiers was on the cricket field.
"I think AB's thought about it a lot," Graeme Smith said in an interview with Reuters.
"I thought definitely he would retire after the 2019 World Cup. But when he made his comeback and did so well in the home summer in South Africa, had a really good IPL (Indian Premier League), I didn't even think about it."
De Villiers retired with a Test average of 50.66 and as the fourth-highest scorer for South Africa with 8,765 runs. In ODI cricket, he holds the records for the fastest 50 (16 balls), 100 (31 balls) and 150 (64 balls) with those innings exhibiting his 360-degree batting ability, much to the amusement of the fans.
"Ultimately people will be very disappointed because they are going to miss him, just because he was that brilliant. They wanted to see him play more," Smith said at the sidelines of the Ceat Cricket Rating awards.
"But the guy has played international cricket for around 15 years... More than anything he has the right to decide when he's had enough. He will have his own reasons for that, you got to respect that."
Smith asserted that managing the workload should be the top priority of the ICC and various cricket boards. He stated that in spite of playing for close to 14-15 years De Villiers handled the cricketing pressure and family pressure really well.Ā
"It's a challenge international cricket really does face," Smith said. "The way world cricket is at the moment, the International Cricket Council and administrators have to be really at the top of their game in terms of player workloads, creating context in our cricket.
"There are not many players who have played for 14-15 years that can travel nine, 10, 11 months a year, deal with the pressures, plus the family pressures, it's very, very difficult."
Smith stated that losing āirreplaceableā De Villiers was like taking Virat Kohli out of the Indian team.Ā
"To lose a player like AB, he's irreplaceable," Smith said. "There are also quality players there but it's like taking Virat Kohli (India captain) out of the Indian team.
"Everyone will say it's a big loss. More than anything the South African team loses a X-factor player, who can single-handedly win you a game."
Smith also had doubts about the future of long-serving players like Hashim Amla and current captain Faf du Plessis and stated that it would be a tough transition for Cricket South Africa.Ā
"I think South African cricket is going to find itself in a very interesting phase in the next year or so," Smith said. "I don't think the talent pool is quite as good as what it has been for a period of time.
"If a couple of players walk away after the 2019 World Cup, it's going to take a little bit of time for the team to rebuild. It's going to be interesting to see players like Hashim and Faf if they play for another year or two after the World Cup. If they don't, it's going to be a challenging period and something South African cricket needs to be aware of."