Reasons why AB de Villiers retired sooner than expected 

On 23rd of May, the cricketing world was gearing up for another grandeur event - an IPL final which was just four days away. The predictions were on and the craze was sky-high as always. But then came a shocking news as 34-year-old AB de Villiers had announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect, which forced cricket fans to shift their attention from IPL to the retirement news.

He came up with two reasons for the sudden retirement, first he stated that he had run out of steam to cop up the physical demands of the game and the second reason was that for him, playing for South Africa meant playing all three formats or nothing.

Any sportsperson's retirement can draw two kind of reactions - why did he retire so early or why he took so long to retire. The former question was asked more in AB's case. But did he retire too early?

#1 South Africa's chances in the 2019 World Cup

None of AB's fans wanted to see their superhero in the list of great players without a World Cup. Many times, AB himself expressed his desire to win the World Cup for South Africa and break the jinx associated with the team. With AB's ever-lasting injury concerns, everyone knew that 2019 was his last chance but when he suddenly announced the retirement, eye-brows were raised wondering what happened to that dream. Probably, AB himself realized that it's a dream far from reality.

Chances of South Africa winning the next year World Cup are bleak. They have far too many issues to resolve before the start of next year's showpiece event. And they have a questionable preparation plan too with Australia's limited overs tour to South Africa next month being the only competitive series before the World Cup.

SA lost to India by a 5-1 margin in their own backyard a few months before AB's retirement, which showcased South Africa's problems to the world. They have too many issues in the batting department, with the audition for the right players still going on for more than two slots. This struggle might have forced de Velliers to give up on World Cup hopes.

#2 South Africa's Test calendar for 2018-19 international cricket season

South Africa has no high-profile Test series in next one year

Generally, most players prefer ending their limited overs career earlier than expected so that they can continue playing Test cricket for few more years. But AB decided to say goodbye at once. There may be two reasons for it, one being his lack of interest in playing the longest format of the game especially in the latter half of his career, which is evident by him staying away from low-profile series although, most of it was because of injuries.

And the other reason would be the lack of high-profile series for South Africa in the current season. Post AB's retirement, Sri Lanka hosted South Africa for a two-match Test series which SA lost 0-2. The next Test series for South Africa is against Pakistan in December at home where they will play 3 match series followed by Sri Lanka's return trip in February for two games.

In all likelihood, both the series will be one-sided with respect to South Africa and doesn't carry much significance in the cricketing world. This not so exciting Test calender might have influenced AB to call it a day at least a year before the expected time.

#3 Never ending relationship with injuries

Never ending injuries

AB de Villiers, while announcing his retirement honestly accepted that he was tired. He had to miss most of the international games in his last few years because of injuries. In fact, when he made a comeback to the Test squad against Zimbabwe in December 2017, it was his first Test match in more than a year.

He played continuously for the next few months before getting injured again which forced him to miss the limited overs leg of India's tour of South Africa. This start-stop career in international cricket for almost three years might have frustrated the man who can do everything on the cricket field. He is human after all (even though bowlers reject this claim! ).