AB de Villiers Reveals He Played with One Eye for the Final Two Years of His Career

Former South African cricket luminary, AB de Villiers, revealed that he played the last two years of his career with impaired vision in his right eye.

AB de Villiers retired from international cricket in May 2018 but continued to participate in T20 leagues, including the Indian Premier League. However, in November 2021, de Villiers announced his retirement from all forms of the game.

Here’s what AB de Villiers told journalist Melinda Farrell about an eye injury he had sustained just about when he had retired from intensive cricket:

“My youngster accidentally kicked me in 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,” De Villiers was quoted by Wisden.

AB De Villiers said, "I played the last two years of my career with a detached retina. The doctors asked me how in the world did I play cricket like this". (Wisden). pic.twitter.com/Os4K0wGVFx

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 7, 2023

There’s no denying that in the 2021 IPL, AB de Villiers seemed a mere shadow of his former self. Playing for RCB, he managed just 313 runs in 13 matches with a strike rate of 148.