AB de Villiers will go down in history as one of the finest white-ball (particularly T20) players of all time. The South African made a name for himself in international as well as franchise cricket with his unconventional batting style which proved brutally effective.
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Outside his home country, De Villiers is held in great regard in India, especially in Bengaluru as he represented Royal Challengers Bangalore for 11 IPL seasons, making a significant impact in each one.
He was part of the South African ODI teams for the 2007, 2011 and 2015 World Cups and retired from international cricket in 2018, continuing to play franchise cricket until 2021.
AB de Villiers reveals shocking details about last two years of his professional cricket
One of De Villiers' signature shots in T20 cricket was the ramp, where he would go down on one knee and almost sweep pace bowlers from outside off stump over fine leg. His hand-eye coordination was unheard of, and helped him pull off shots like that.
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Speaking to Wisden Cricket Monthly, the South African revealed on Thursday that he effectively played with one eye for the last two years of his career. He said,
My youngster accidentally kicked me on my eye with his heel. I started really losing vision in the right eye.
When I got the surgery done the doctor actually asked me, ‘How in the world did you play cricket like this?’. Luckily my left eye did a decent job for the last two years of my career.
The eye injury in question was a detached retina, occurring when a thin layer of tissue at the back of the eye pulls away from its normal position. The condition can lead to a greater risk of permanent vision loss in the affected eye if left untreated.
The former wicket-keeper batter underwent surgery for the condition later on, but to have left it untreated for as long as he did, while continuing to be just as effective in professional cricket is a truly remarkable feat.
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