'As I believe it, Ottis (Gibson, the head coach) and Faf (du Plessis, the captain) gave him opportunities to, say, 'Let's manage your workload going into the World Cup because we want you to play a World Cup'. He had a fair chance to manage that and he said no and that he is happy to retire and that's fair enough. And Faf accepted it, Ottis accepted it and they stood by it'
The world knows Virat Kohli as a prolific cricketer but for AB de Villiers, he is a friend, who has interests beyond cricket and is spiritual at one level.
Images from Sunday night's IPL game between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
AB de Villiers posted South Africa's highest individual score to give them firm control of the second Test on the second day against Pakistan at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday.
Kohli also reminded that merely getting De Villiers out won't ensure a Test match victory for India.
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers came good when it mattered most as Royal Challengers Bangalore finally ended their losing run, with an emphatic 8 wicket win against Kings XI Punjab.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers hit a series top score of 115 not out to lead his side to a crushing 117-run win over Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates on Monday and a 4-1 series victory.
AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla produced knocks in the 90s after South Africa had been in early trouble on the first day of the third Test against Pakistan on Friday.
Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers shared an unbroken stand of 172 to steer South Africa to comfortable seven-wicket win over England in the fifth and final One-day International in Nottingham on Wednesday.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers calmly guided his side to a tense four-wicket victory over New Zealand with one ball to spare in a rain-affected first one-day international in Hamilton on Sunday.
India lost the opening One-Day International against South Africa by 5 runs on Sunday. Rajneesh Gupta presents some interesting numbers from the match played in Kanpur ...
Akhtar criticised De Villiers for preferring cash-rich leagues when he should have made himself available for South Africa.
Batsman AB de Villiers will return to the role of wicketkeeper for South Africa in the opening two Tests of their four-match home series against England starting in Durban on Boxing Day.
AB de Villiers smashed West Indies bowlers from pillar to post for the quickest 150 in one-day internationals on Friday but the South African skipper said only hard work earns a batsman the right to dominate in such a fashion.
'I made no demands neither did I try to force myself into WC squad'
Australia's fifth World Cup triumph was largely possible due to efforts of fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who had a sensational run with the ball in the mega-event.
'In a way, making me feel that we are responsible. I was quite upset about that. I don't know what else I can say, I was pretty upset. It's done and dusted now, nothing happened, there were no fines given or anything like that'
AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis struck sublime centuries as South Africa chased down a massive score to beat Australia by seven wickets in the second One-Day International of the triangular series on Wednesday.
A second successive century from Hashim Amla took South Africa to a resounding eight wicket victory over Zimbabwe on Sunday and secured the three-match series with a game to spare.
South Africa were 389 for 9 at stumps on Day 2 of the first Test against Sri Lanka, a lead of 209 runs, after AB de Villiers smashed 99 runs off 135 balls and shared a 97-run stand with Ashwell Prince.
South African cricket captain AB de Villiers continued to script statistical history at the ongoing World Cup as he entered the top-10 of all-time scorers' list.
South Africa's AB de Villiers wants to concentrate on becoming the world's best batsman rather than taking a role as full-time wicketkeeper.
But de Villiers took time to warm up to the 'flamboyant', young Kohli, whom he met for the first time in 2011.
AB is a cricketer like none other, says Dhruv Munjal, adored by Indian fans just as they did Sachin Tendulkar. 'His name chanted by thousands of otherwise ridiculously partisan fans at stadiums across India.'
'When I spoke to him yesterday I knew something was brewing. Well played my friend.'
AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli jointly orchestrated a mayhem by scoring magnificent centuries as Royal Challengers Bangalore demolished a hapless Gujarat Lions by a record margin of 144 runs, in the Indian Premier League, in Bengaluru, on Saturday.
A record-breaking batting display from centurions Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers took South Africa to a 34-run win over Pakistan in the third One-Day International on Sunday.
Simply blown away by their pyrotechnics, West Indies left-hander Chris Gayle compared Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to Marvel comics' superheroes 'Batman' and 'Superman', as the duo lit up the Indian Premier League with some dazzling display of top quality batsmanship.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers has been suspended for two ODIs while his teammates have been fined 100 per cent of their match fees for maintaining a slow over rate during their one-wicket defeat against New Zealand in the first ODI in Paarl.
Livingstone, who made his IPL debut in 2019 with Rajasthan Royals, spent the last three seasons with Punjab Kings where the middle-order batter scored 827 runs in the world's richest Twenty20 league.
The fight for the number one batting position between India's Virat Kohli and South Africa captain AB de Villiers on the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for ODI batsmen could get exciting in the coming weeks. With only eight rating points separating No 1-ranked Kohli from de Villiers, the forthcoming series offers both of them an opportunity to either retain or reclaim the top position.
India has a strong squad but their only worry would be expectations of a home ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player ratings for the ongoing IPL 8
Maxwell upset Kohli with a gesture in a Test match...
South Africa have an aching relationship with World Cup semi-finals, dating back to 1992. AB de Villiers had a close encounter with heartbreak in 2015. Now, he is hopeful that the current team will finally absolve his country of all the past pain.
AB de Villiers survived being dropped early to smash a series-winning unbeaten 95 for South Africa who beat Pakistan by six wickets in the deciding match of their One-day international series on Sunday.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers's batting blitzkriegs in the last two months have been so good that even his own team mates are in awe of them, fast bowler Dale Steyn said on Friday.
"He's so inventive ... he can play a touch game or a power game. Then, he can also keep wickets. I think he's the most valuable cricketer around," reckons former Australian great Adam Gilchrist.
AB de Villiers insisted that he wants to stay on as captain and take the Proteas to the World Cup triumph in 2019.
South Africa batsman AB de Villiers kept the ball-tampering controversy simmering after the fourth day of the third Test against England on Wednesday.
