More than eight years since he produced one of the most famous knocks in One-Day International cricket, South African batting legend AB de Villiers revealed he was half asleep on the field when he smashed an unbeaten 162 off 66 balls against West Indies in the 2015 World Cup.
In a chat on JioCinema’s Home of Heroes, de Villiers spoke about his journey in international cricket, his childhood as well as some of his most memorable moments on the field.
When discussing his famous knock in Sydney against the Windies, ABD said that he was sick that morning on the eve of the match, had to take a few injections before heading to the venue, skipped warm-up before the game and was actually asleep in the dressing room right up until it was his turn to bat.
“Sydney Cricket Ground 2015. We played a World Cup game against the West Indies. And I was very nervous, very fired up. It’s a must win for us. But 3:00 that morning I got really sick in my room, and I got injections and all sorts of stuff. I didn’t sleep. I arrived at the Sydney Cricket Ground and I told the coach, listen, I don’t think I can warm up, I’m just going to take a nap. Ended up batting first and I was literally sleeping before going out to bat. But my point is there was something more important than focusing out and stressing about a cricket game,” said de Villiers, who was leading the Proteas in that World Cup.
“I honestly felt like I couldn’t play. So, that became the bigger matter that I could just walk out. I was lucky. I was happy enough that I could just play. Finally. Which took everything else sort of out of the equation. And I remember standing there facing my first ball and I was like, I don’t care if I get out there, I’m just going to see the ball and just like move slowly. Be in my mode, you know?
“And it was incredible how in such slow motion everything happened that day. Seeing the ball bigger, I was half asleep. Looking at the sun just standing there going like, oh, this game is actually so enjoyable, so easy, so slow and it’s so difficult to get into that zone. In that zone, it’s so enjoyable,” added ABD.
When talking about the turning point of his career, de Villiers brought up his double-hundred in Ahmedabad during the Proteas’ 2008 tour of India in which they played three Tests that ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
De Villiers struck 217 at the Narendra Modi Stadium (known as the Sardar Patel Stadium back then) and forged 256-run fifth-wicket partnership with Jacques Kallis that played a key role in their innings and 90-run win.
“I never thought I was able of getting close to 200 because I was sort of labelled as this white-ball cricketer who grew up in the high school and liked fast scoring, takes on his shots, not really reliable. So 2008 also I was working with Jacques Kallis at the time, really focusing on my technique. I felt my defence was absolutely shocking. I couldn’t play a front foot defensive shot purely because I was early on the ball. I hated a good length delivery because I wanted to quickly smother it. You know, what I learned to do really just trust your technique, trust the fact that your balance is good and just allowed to hit your face. 45 degree more is the smallest angle bat.
“And I remember facing Sreesanth had that ability of nipping it around, beating the bat a couple of times. And I realized, you know what? I never pushed to that and I started really enjoying playing the front foot defensive shot. And that was the big turning point from 2008. I think that was the foundation layer. And then 2009, 2010, I really started kicking on that story. I started doing that, but also sort of taking the bowlers on at the same time. And the game was very enjoyable since then. Knowing that my defence is in place now, I can also discover other areas of my game,” revealed ‘Mr 360’.
De Villiers made his South Africa debut alongside pace legend Dale Steyn during the 2004-05 Test series against England at home and would go on to play 114 Tests besides making more than 300 limited-overs appearances for them. He would ultimately call it quits in 2018, a year before the ODI World Cup in England.
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