Former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers asserted the loss against New Zealand in the semifinal of the 2015 World Cup took a year for him to digest and it played a crucial role in him retiring ahead of the next World Cup. South Africa was left heartbroken after their four-wicket loss to New Zealand via D/L method and de Villiers acknowledged that he found it difficult to come to terms with it.
During a chat with Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz, De Villiers said, “That really wore me down a touch but I kept playing, I tried to bite the bullet, I tried to be there. I was batting really well. I still had incredible friendships and memories.”
The 36-year-old decided to call it quits on his 14-year-old international career in 2018 despite showing no signs of fading out. However, the former Proteas skipper said that the New Zealand defeat has an impact on him deciding suddenly to take retirement.
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Explaining the same, De Villiers said, “From a personal point of view, yeah it played a huge role. We got beaten by sport on the night and it was actually a beautiful thing but it was difficult for me to get through that year and to specifically meet up with the team again a few months later, having to go again. Here we go again, we have to restart but I am like hold on, I am not over this World Cup. It hurt too much. So yes, I am sensitive and those kinds of things play a huge role in how I feel and my ambitions.”
South Africa has been known for choking in the ICC events despite being a good team as they suffered massive disappointments in the 1992 and 1999 editions. De Villiers said he struggled to diest the loss of the 2015 loss for about a year and regrets not opening up about his emotions.
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Describing the same, AB de Villiers said, “The next 12 months were really tough for me. Maybe I should’ve been more honest about it when I look back and communicated about it. I felt like I was a little bit alone at the time but it’s silly to say that you’re alone if you don’t seek help if you don’t talk about it. If I could have it over again, I would probably open up discussions with the coach, administrators and discuss my way forward. I didn’t.”
