Former South African skipper, AB de Villiers inks an emotional message for his teammate Hashim Amla, who decides to hang his boots from all forms of cricket on Wednesday. Amla, considered one of South Africa’s greatest batters, confirmed that he would not be returning to Surrey for the County Championship. The 39-year-old amassed as many as 34,104 runs across all formats, including first-class. He scored 9,282 Test runs between 2004-2019, becoming second only to Jacques Kallis for South Africa.

Tweeting about the legendary players, AB de Villiers wrote: “Hashim Amla.. where do I start?! Not easy. Might take me a few days, weeks, months, years. I can literally write a book about you. Humaam, thank you for always being there for me. You’ve always been a brother who made me feel safe in so many ways. Your journey wasn’t easy. “The guy with the weird technique”. “He’ll never last”. “He’ll never be consistent”.

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He further added, “But then, in your own very unique way, you just walked out there, time and time again and just batted, like only you can. Calm, composed, consistent, gutsy, skilful and humble, always for the team, for your country. You inspired me in a way I can’t explain.”

Hashim Amla.. where do I start?! Not easy. Might take me a few days, weeks, months, years.

I can literally write a book about you.

Humaam, thank you for always being there for me. You’ve always been a brother who made me feel safe in so many ways.

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) January 18, 2023

So, today, I salute you my friend. You served the game to perfection! We can all learn from that. I did

I wish I could bat with you one more time.

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) January 18, 2023

AB de Villiers concluded by saying, “So, today, I salute you my friend. You served the game to perfection! We can all learn from that. I did. I wish I could bat with you one more time”.

Hashim Amla scored 8113 runs, including 27 centuries in 181 ODIs, and 1,277 runs in 44 T20Is. He called time on his international cricket following the conclusion of South Africa’s campaign at the World Cup in 2019.

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Announcing his retirement, Hasim Amla said, “I have great memories of the Oval ground and to finally leave it as a player fills me with immense gratitude for what has been. The Surrey ship runs so professionally that it would make any international player feel a sense of honor just to be involved with.”

“I have great memories of the Oval ground and to finally leave it as a player fills me with immense gratitude for what has been."

Memories to last a lifetime. Thank you, Hash 🤎 pic.twitter.com/wbSfwvHktQ

— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) January 18, 2023