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Thanks for the memories, AB

May 24, 2018May 24, 2018 mywisdenindia

Thanks for the memories, AB

Wednesday (May 23) seemed like a pretty ordinary day at first with some still recovering from Chennai Super Kings’ stunning win over Sunrisers Hyderabad and a few others looking forward to Kolkata Knight Riders’ Eliminator contest against Rajasthan Royals. Little did anyone know that at exactly 4:46 pm all semblance of the ordinary was going to be thrown out the window.

AB de Villiers announced his retirement from international cricket and broke the internet.

Former and current players couldn’t come to terms with it but thanked him for the memories.

Shahid Afridi

✔@SAfridiOfficial

Champion batsman! I always enjoyed seeing you bat, the innovations that you brought to the game were a joy to watch esp the sweep shot off fast bowlers. Always respected your enormous talent, a true great of cricket. Stay Blessed.

Shahid Afridi

✔@SAfridiOfficial

One of my most cherished wickets! 🙂 Most of the times it was a massive challenge getting you out. Congratulations on a wonderful career @ABdeVilliers17

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6:34 PM – May 23, 2018

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His South African team-mates were at loss for words too.

Speaking of memories…

There’s more to de Villiers than numbers, but numbers maketh a man in this game.

It wasn’t just the players who felt the loss.

Even some big associations couldn’t hold back.

While you come to terms with that, you could look back on a fine contest between Chennai and Hyderabad on Tuesday night to take a break. In short: Faf du Plessis won the game for Chennai and now MS Dhoni’s men are in the final.

So, it’s Eliminator time in the IPL, and that means Kolkata are all geared up to host Rajasthan. Fun times these!

Venky Mysore

✔@VenkyMysore

#TeamKKR – proud of what u hv accomplished so far. Hoping for nothing but the best tonight! #KKRHaiTaiyaar #PlayUnited @NokiamobileIN

Nokia Mobile India

✔@NokiamobileIN

The big win is near and the team needs your support. Send us your own creative cheer using #PlayUnited and tagging @NokiamobileIN, to show your love for @KKRiders
Stand a chance to win 10 brand new Nokia devices and signed KKR merchandise.

4:04 PM – May 23, 2018

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In case you forgot, the Women’s T20 Challenge was a big deal, even a day after the game.

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AB’s era-defining career

May 24, 2018May 24, 2018 mywisdenindia

AB’s era-defining career

AB de Villiers left an indelible mark on the game, and one day after the announcement of his retirement from the international game, the sheer extent of the impact he made became apparent. For a second day in succession, on Thursday (May 24), glowing tributes poured in for the South African legend.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjJ5FKxHpZf/embed/captioned/?cr=1&v=8&wp=449&rd=www.wisdenindia.com#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A2676.7200000000003%7D

Ed Joyce, a champion in his own right, decided to call it a day too.

The World Cup dream will remain unfulfilled for de Villiers, but he’ll still be targetting that IPL title. Ask Virat Kohli, who has promised to come back hard.

In some rather disheartening news for the Indian skipper though, he was ruled out of his county stint with Surrey.

Alexandra Hartley

✔@AlexHartley93

Probably got neck ache from carrying RCB throughout the IPL.

Massive shame!
Get well soon Kohli

ICC

✔@ICC

CONFIRMED: @imVkohli will not play for Surrey after suffering a neck injury playing for RCB.

He will undertake a fitness Test on 15th June, and is expected to be fit for India’s tours of Ireland and England.

2:28 PM – May 24, 2018 · Loughborough, England

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In the meantime, Kolkata advanced to Qualifier 2 in the Indian Premier League 2018.

But from the shadows of the IPL, Test cricket is re-emerging to claim its place in the sun.

Not much has changed for England though.

There was some time for some inter-rival fraternising.

It’s a special day for Kevin Pietersen, as his little one takes the cricket field for the first time.

The fitness challenge is really making waves. When Kohli sent him an invite, the Indian Prime Minister got on board too.

Narendra Modi

✔@narendramodi

Challenge accepted, Virat! I will be sharing my own #FitnessChallenge video soon. @imVkohli #HumFitTohIndiaFit

Virat Kohli

✔@imVkohli

I have accepted the #FitnessChallenge by @ra_THORe sir. Now I would like to challenge my wife @AnushkaSharma , our PM @narendramodi ji and @msdhoni Bhai for the same. #HumFitTohIndiaFit #ComeOutAndPlay

8:21 AM – May 24, 2018

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Suresh Raina has taken it up as well.

Finally, it’s been a tough two months for the Warners, but in a heart-warming image, they were enjoying family time.

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Sports

AB – superhuman or spiderman?

May 24, 2018May 24, 2018 mywisdenindia

AB – superhuman or spiderman?

As with any feat of brilliance or simply anything that AB de Villiers does, social media and the cricketing world on Friday (May 18) were amazed by the South African’s inhuman fielding effort that helped Royal Challengers Bangalore secure a thrilling win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Just AB being AB, we guess.

Other notable mentions in the classic encounter at the Chinnaswamy were Moeen Ali, Rashid Khan and of course, Kane Williamson.

The best catch ever? There might be some dispute over that.

And we thank the stars, the universe and everything for this every day!

Putting Bangalore’s qualification hopes in another light.

Kumar Sangakkara ended up running into Sathish Sivalingam, the Indian CWG weightlifting gold medalist.

Anil Kumble is spoiling us with his photography skills and this view!

Birthday wishes go out to David Wiese and Sandeep Sharma.

Kudos also poured in for Shelley Nitschke, who was named the assistant coach of the Australian women’s team.

Alex Blackwell

✔@AlexBlackwell2

Congrats Shelley! Great cricketer, great person, no doubt Shell will thrive in this new role. I hope she will still have time to go surfing with me?!! #cricket #WomenInSport

Australian Women’s Cricket Team

✔@SouthernStars

The great Shelley Nitschke has been appointed full-time Australia assistant coach for the next two years! Congrats, Shell: https://www.cricket.com.au/news/shelley-nitschke-australia-women-assistant-coach-southern-stars-matthew-mott/2018-05-18 …

1:52 PM – May 18, 2018

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Mel ‘MJ’ Jones

✔@meljones_33

Watched how she went about things in the recent India tour, heard how the players talked about her and know how she played the game. Brilliant appointment which will help the @SouthernStars build on their successful legacy.

Australian Women’s Cricket Team

✔@SouthernStars

The great Shelley Nitschke has been appointed full-time Australia assistant coach for the next two years! Congrats, Shell: https://www.cricket.com.au/news/shelley-nitschke-australia-women-assistant-coach-southern-stars-matthew-mott/2018-05-18 …

8:52 AM – May 18, 2018 · Mumbai, India

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De Villiers quits international cricket

May 24, 2018 mywisdenindia

De Villiers quits international cricket

AB de Villiers, the charismatic South African batsman, announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket on Wednesday (May 23) in a video released via social media.

Having recently returned home from the Indian Premier League campaign where he represented Royal Challengers Bangalore who finished sixth in the league table, de Villiers indicated in the video he shared on Twitter that he does not have any plans to play overseas currently, though he would try and play in the domestic level for Titans.

Following a 14-year career that spanned 114 Tests, 228 One-Day Internationals, and 78 Twenty20 Internationals, de Villiers said the time was right for others to have a chance and that if he chose to wear the green and gold, it had to be for all formats or nothing.

“This is a tough decision, I have thought long and hard about it and I’d like to retire while still playing decent cricket. After the fantastic series wins against India and Australia, now feels like the right time to step aside,” explained de Villiers.

The announcement came as a surprise considering the 34-year old committed himself to the Proteas when he gave up his One-Day International captaincy in order to reduce his burden and make himself available in all three formats. Before the series against India, de Villiers had gone on an extended break from the longest format of the game that was also forced due to a recurring elbow injury.

In the video, de Villiers is refreshingly honest about the true reasons for the sudden decision to call it quits.

“After 114 Test matches, 228 ODI’s and 78 T20 Internationals, it is time for others to take over. I have had my turn, and to be honest, I am tired. It’s not about earning more somewhere else, it’s about running out of gas and feeling that it is the right time to move on. Everything comes to an end.”

It has been a long road for Mr. 360, as de Villiers was nicknamed for his versatile style of batting that saw him amass over 20,000 runs across all three formats in international cricket, representing South Africa – 8765 runs in Tests (average: 50.66), 9577 runs in ODIs (average: 53.50) and 1672 runs in T20Is (average: 26.12).

Aside from this, he holds the record for the fastest 50 (16), 100 (31) and 150 (64) in ODIs and finishes his career ranked No.2 in the batting rankings in ODIs as well. He holds the second highest individual score in Tests among South African batsmen (278* against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi, 2010) and is the fourth highest-run getter in South Africa in Tests.

He began his career alongside Dale Steyn, making his debut in the first Test against England in December 2004 in Port Elizabeth and soon went on to become one of South Africa’s mainstays in all three formats, with the bat and the gloves when Mark Boucher was forced into retirement following a horrific eye injury in 2012. Soon after, Graeme Smith stepped down from the captaincy in ODIs and T20Is, handing it over to de Villiers who then passed on the T20I captaincy to Faf du Plessis. But a chronic back injury forced him to give up the keeping responsibilities to Quinton de Kock and by 2014, he had handed it over to de Kock in Tests as well.

The Test captaincy eluded him after Hashim Amla was appointed Smith’s successor in 2014 but Amla giving up the captaincy mid-war during the series away in England saw de Villiers take over the reigns on a temporary basis and become permanent in January 2016 before giving it up to du Plessis the same year. He remained ODI captain until 2017 which saw his reign include a heart-breaking semifinal exit at the hands of New Zealand in the 2015 World Cup and a group stage exit in the 2017 Champions Trophy which prompted him to give up the ODI captaincy, to du Plessis again.

Both Chris Nenzani, the Cricket South Africa President, and Thabang Moore, Acting Chief Executive, were full of praise for the contributions made by de Villiers to South African cricket and intimated that the game, both in South Africa and around the world, would definitely miss him.

“AB is one of the all-time greats of South African cricket who has thrilled spectators around the world with his sheer brilliance, coupled to his ability to innovate and take modern day batting in all three formats but particularly in the white ball ones to new levels,” said Nenzani, with Moore adding that his ability to play shots around the field, earning him the 360 degree moniker will remain unforgettable.

“What is probably more important is the inspiration he has been to his team mates whether playing at international or domestic level and the wonderful role model he has been to all our aspiring youngsters. It goes without saying that he is going to be greatly missed wherever international cricket is played,”

Sports

Ball-tampering scandal a tornado of hysteria: Warne

March 29, 2018 mywisdenindia

Ball-tampering scandal a tornado of hysteria: Warne

Shane Warne branded reaction to the Australian ball-tampering scandal a “tornado of hysteria” on Wednesday (March 28) and said the punishments meted out to Steven Smith and David Warner do not fit the crime.

Smith and Warner have been banned from representing their country for a year over the cheating incident during the third Test in South Africa, while Cameron Bancroft has been suspended for nine months.

“We are all so hurt and angry and maybe we weren’t so sure how to react,” Warne wrote on Facebook. “We’d just never seen it before.

“But the jump to hysteria is something that has elevated the offence beyond what they actually did, and maybe we’re at a point where the punishment just might not fit the crime.”

The former legspinner — second on the overall list of Test wicket-takers — said Australia’s enemies had taken the opportunity to put the boot in.

“There are those countries that don’t like Australia, don’t like individuals in the team, and there has been a build-up of hate which has exploded and created this tornado of hysteria,” he wrote.

“But what are the players guilty of? Cheating via ball-tampering and bringing the game into disrepute.

“Their opposing captain in this series, South Africa’s Faf du Plessis, has been charged with the offence twice and opening bowler Vernon Philander once.

“The list of players who have been charged with ball-tampering is long and contains some of the biggest names in the game.”

Warne also questioned the idea of pre-meditated cheating.

“Are there levels of ball tampering, or is it just ball tampering? Is putting a mint in your pocket so you can shine a ball on the field pre-meditated cheating, or just ball-tampering? What about putting sunscreen on the ball? You either ball tamper or you don’t.”

Warne said Smith, the top-ranked Test batsman in the world, was guilty of a “severe error of judgement”.

“I am still trying to wrestle with what I think the punishment should be,” he said. “They have to be harsh, but if they are rubbed out for a year, the punishment does not fit the crime.”