AB de Villiers will be irreplaceable, says Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith has said that AB de Villiers will be irreplaceable in the South African side.

AB de Villiers retired from international cricket a few days back, leaving the fans in shock. As he posted the message on his app, messaged started flooding in from all corners.

Nothing but love ❤ @ABdeVilliers17 it’s been an absolute privilege pic.twitter.com/Zewf8lFeTJ

— Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49) May 24, 2018

Former South Africa captain Graeme Smith has now said that de Villiers has been such a great influence on South African cricket that no one else can replace him. The left hander said:

“I thought definitely he would retire after the 2019 World Cup. But when he made his comeback and did so well in the home summer in South Africa, had a really good IPL, I didn’t even think about it.

Also Read: Virat Kohli wishes AB de Villiers All the Best after retirement

“To lose a player like AB, he’s irreplaceable. There are also quality players there but it’s like taking Virat Kohli out of the Indian team. SA lose an X-factor player, who can single-handedly win you a game.”

Smith further said, “Ultimately people will be very disappointed because they are going to miss him, just because he was that brilliant. They wanted to see him play more. There are not many players who have played for 14-15 years that can travel nine, 10, 11 months a year, deal with the pressures, plus the family pressures, it’s very, very difficult.

“The guy has played international cricket for around 15 years… More than anything he has the right to decide when he’s had enough. He will have his own reasons for that, you got to respect that,” Smith concluded.”

Indian fans are waiting with their fingers crossed to see AB de Villiers back in action for the next season of the IPL.