AB De Villiers news: South African addresses rumours of him being a multi-sports superstar in a famous chat show
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AB De Villiers- the South African legend is arguably the most revered overseas cricketer in India. He, alongside Virat Kohli have garnered millions of fans across the cricketing spectrum, especially after they became the face of the popular IPL franchise- Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB) in the marquee Indian Premier League.
Despite having not one even a single IPL title, De Villiers has allured many eyeballs with his scintillating and swashbuckling batting performances for RCB over the years. He is, despite retiring from all forms of cricket considered as one of the legends of modern-day cricket.
He averaged 53.30 in his 228 ODIs he played for South Africa before retiring from all forms of International cricket. The prime reason perhaps, was his team’s shocking exit from the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup in 2015 as he had ‘run out of gas’ after the tournament.
AB De Villiers- A Multi-sports player?
Such is his fan-following in our country that a rumour, perhaps originated from one of the Facebook posts in India, suggested that the Proteas cricketer held South African national records in swimming and athletics, was a tennis and badminton prodigy, a standout junior rugby and soccer player, as well as played- off a scratch handicap in golf.
The 34-year-old had previously rebuked the false claims in his autobiography- AB: The Autobiography.
He was a decent talent in some of the sports, but never a national champion or anything of such sorts.
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“These are the facts: decent at golf, useful at rugby and tennis when I was young, and enjoying cricket ever since,” he said, back in the year 2016.
His Recent Statement
In the recent episode of the popular chat show- ‘Breakfast with Champions’, host Gaurav Kapoor asked the similar question regarding the famous rumour.
“So, there are big rumours in India that AB de Villiers has played international hockey, international football international badminton, international cricket. He was the first man on the moon,” asked Gaurav.
The Proteas legend to the question, reiterated the same old facts from 2016, and perhaps brushing the rumours under the carpet, once and for all. In reply, De Villiers said: “Serious nonsense ever,” before adding: “Hockey, I’ve played one year, for 12 months at school. I’ve never played a live game of football in my entire life. Never played (Badminton). I’ve played once, one game of five minutes with Mark Boucher somewhere in Bangladesh, or somewhere.”
De Villiers, however, revealed that he played rugby and golf while growing up, revealing: “Rugby I played for the first time at school. Top school in my country when it comes to Rugby and cricket. I’ve played golf, I was a scratch when I was 14, 15 years old.”
He also added that he admires the Spanish legend, Rafael Nadal and Serbian current No.1, Novak Djokovic over Roger Federer because of their fighting spirit.
