ICC chief executive David Richardson paid tribute to AB de Villiers after his retirement from international cricket. 

The former South African cricketer, who played 42 Tests and 122 ODIs, was complimentary about De Villiers’ contribution to the game.

De Villiers, 34, shocked the world when he announced his retirement on Wednesday in a video on Twitter.

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‘AB is undoubtedly one of cricket’s great entertainers and a genuinely special and instinctive talent. Time and time again he has left cricket fans around the world marvelling at his feats with the bat and in the field. International cricket will sorely miss him,’ said ICC chief executive David Richardson.

‘His outstanding international record reflects the kind of dominance he has had over bowlers and I thank him on behalf of the ICC for a fine career and an outstanding contribution to cricket and wish him all the best for the future.’

De Villiers scored 8,765 runs in 114 Tests with 22 centuries (average 50.66), 9,577 runs in 228 ODIs with 25 centuries and 1,672 runs in 78 T20Is with 10 half-centuries.

Starting out as a wicketkeeper-batsman, he finished his career with 463 catches, including those behind the wicket and in the field, as well as 17 stumpings, in all international cricket.

He spent 507 days as the top-ranked Test batsman and 1,356 days (fourth-most ever) as the top-ranked ODI batsman.

He reached 935 points in the Test rankings in 2014, the joint-highest ever for South Africa and the joint-11th highest of all time. In ODIs, he reached 902 points in 2015, the highest for South Africa.