"My Kid Accidentally...": AB De Villiers On How He 'Began To Lose Vision' That Led To His Sudden International Retirement

Former South Africa batter AB de Villiers is undoubtedly one of the finest cricketers in the history of the sport. Making his international debut in 2004, de Villiers went on to play 114 Tests, 228 ODIs, and 78 T20Is, scoring 20014 runs for the Proteas. Apart from this, the wicketkeeper-batter is widely popular for his heroics in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore. De Villiers, who is known by the nickname of 'Mr 360', announced his retirement from international in 2018 and later called time on his IPL career in 2021.

However, in a recent interaction with Wisden Cricket, de Villiers revealed the real reason behind his sudden retirement. He stated that his young son had accidentally kicked him in the eye, which declined his vision.

"My kid accidentally kicked my eye with his heel. I began to lose vision in my right eye. After the surgery, the doctor wondered, 'How on earth did you play cricket like this?' Thankfully, my left eye held up well in the final two years of my career," de Villiers told Wisden Cricket.

The former RCB star further stated that South Africa's defeat against New Zealand in the semi-final of 2015 ODI World Cup, left a deep impact on him. He also opened up about the challenges that he faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Covid had an impact, no doubt. The 2015 World Cup was a significant blow from an international standpoint. It took me some time to recover from that, and when I returned to the team, I didn't sense the supportive culture I truly needed at that moment," said de Villiers.

"I thought a lot, like, 'Is this the end for me?' I didn't want to play IPL or anything. In 2018, I took a break. Then, I tried Test cricket one more time to beat India and Australia, and then I'd stop. No