After smashing Royal Challengers Bangalore to a first win seven games into their IPL campaign, AB de Villiers expressed his desire to be an inspiration to the South African youth.
The former Proteas batsman, who retired from international cricket in May 2018, has dedicated his time to play in T20 tournaments around the world.
He dismissed playing in one final World Cup despite the pleading from his fans and has put his full focus on spending time with his family and playing in domestic competitions around the World.
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Currently playing in the IPL, De Villiers’ side had a horrid start to the 2019 campaign. They lost their first six games, despite De Villiers scoring an unbeaten 70 against the Mumbai Indians and 63 against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
De Villiers hopes that his third half-century for RCB in this campaign will be the turning point for his side. He scored unbeaten 38-ball 59 which led his side to their first win of the tournament on Saturday.
‘Yes, we know what we have to do now – we have to win a lot of games of cricket, but the next step is Mumbai, at the Wankhede stadium,’ De Villiers was quoted saying on the ICC website.
‘We love playing cricket there. We’ll have to do our basics and bowl it up like we did today and, hopefully, more success is around the corner.’
According to De Villiers, his motivation to perform is back home. He aims to inspire young cricketers in South Africa to follow in his footsteps.
‘This kind of tournament, I’m playing every now and then, every 2-3 months. [It] really keeps me energetic,’ he said.
‘I get to work with university guys back home. With some of the local guys and local youngsters, which really gives me the energy and really motivates me to be better for some of the youngsters back home and be an example for them.’
