It was incredible how in such slow motion everything happened that day, was half asleep: AB de Villiers
Jun 30, 2023
New Delhi [India], June 30 : South African legend AB de Villiers relived the arduous hours leading up to the whirlwind innings against the West Indies at Sydney Cricket Ground during the ICC World Cup 2015.
Leading his team by example the Protea captain scored an unbeaten 162 from 66 balls smashing 17 boundaries and eight sixes.
"We played a World Cup game against the West Indies. And I was very nervous, very fired up. It's a must win for us. But at 3 that morning I got really sick in my room, and I got injections and all sorts of stuff. I didn't sleep. I arrived at the Sydney Cricket Ground and I told the coach, listen, I don't think I can warm up, I'm just going to take a nap. Ended up batting first and I was literally sleeping before going out to bat. But my point is there was something more important than focusing out and stressing about a cricket game. I honestly felt like I couldn't play. So, that became the bigger matter that I could just walk out. I was lucky. I was happy enough that I could just play. Finally. Which took everything else sort of out of the equation," said AB de Villiers on JioCinema's Home of Heroes show.
AB de Villiers' belligerent knock helped South Africa pile up a massive 408/5 in 50 overs and the talisman targeted Jason Holder the most hitting him for 104 runs in his 10 overs at an economy rate of 10.40 runs per over.
"I remember standing there facing my first ball and I was like, I don't care if I get out there, I'm just going to see the ball and just like move slowly. Be in my mode, you know? And it was incredible how in such slow motion everything happened that day. Seeing the ball bigger, I was half asleep. Looking at the sun just standing there going like, oh, this game is actually so enjoyable, so easy, so slow and it's so difficult to get into that zone. In that zone, it's so enjoyable," said the South African.
In reply, the West Indies were bowled out for a paltry 151 in 33.1 overs to register a comprehensive 257-run win.
Cricket's Mr. 360 also spoke about his earliest cricketing memory. "I started from a very young age. I have two older brothers, six and nine years older than me. There's a big gap. And it was always a big push for me to sort of compete with them. So, in the backyard, like most other boys, I didn't have TV games or an iPad or any nonsense like that."
He also revealed that cricket was not the only game he started playing, "I think golf and cricket sort of started together. There was tennis and rugby and a few others. But I think cricket and golf are probably the main ones that I just played from the age of three, I think I started eating golf balls not long after my brothers introduced me to cricket. We were rolling pitches. We played on the tar roads, dirt roads, everywhere we could find a spot, we would create this cricket game one up, one bounce, you know. So just lots of fun, different rules, and sort of crafted what you eventually saw on the television."
