AB de Villiers: An open letter to the maestro

Dear AB,

It's a very tough time to cogitate about what is to write. I'm completely flabbergasted hearing your announcement and how can a player almost at the acme of his career take such a stunning decision?

It's been 2 days, but the realization is yet to dawn upon me.

If Virat Kohli and Steven Smith are the two eyes of modern-day cricket then you were the heart. Sachin Tendulkar used to remind us of a certain Sir Don Bradman; Virat often jeopardizes Sachin's records but will another "alien" ever enter world cricket who can fill this South African's shoes?

Yes, I would like to call him an 'alien"; because I am sure that neither an ordinary nor an extraordinary human can emulate this superhuman who changed the A B C of cricket; who first taught the world that it is possible to hit a 140+ kph delivery for a six in reverse sweep ; who proved that a 100+ meter gargantuan six needs only exquisite timing from the batsman & most importantly who made us believe that cricket can be a tiny part of an international cricketer's huge province of expertise. Golf, Rugby or Tennis - as a budding youngster from the Limpopo province in South Africa, you excelled in all!

Your proficiency crossed beyond the sporting boundaries - The gold medal from Nelson Mandela for accomplishing a critical science project is a testament to that very fact. I know everyone is well acquainted with all your achievements, but sometimes redundancy provides pleasure, especially when it is about AB De Villiers.

Okay, we know nothing is perennial in this dynamic world. Everyone has to stop one day to open the door for the following generation and when it's about taking your shoes off, 'why?' is always superior to 'when?' which few illustrious Indian cricketers often failed to understand.

Mr. 360 - you proved that a true legend never requires 'milestones' to establish his legacy, otherwise you couldn't have bid adieu being so close to 10000 runs in both Test & the ODIS format. You were never to play for the records!

Today cricket has lost its myriad spectators who started watching cricket only for enjoying the brilliance of superman ABD- the 'whammy' to the bowlers. Your improvisations & innovations in the cricket field will always remain evergreen.

I will keep loving you, De Villiers till the heart beats. In my dictionary, the word 'extraterrestrial' no more exists because you have replaced it by the unique word called 'ABD'.

Regards,

An Ardent Fan