Clayton Murzello: AB and the art of saying goodbye

SA icon AB de Villiers who quit international cricket last week PicGetty ImagesNot many players call it a day after experiencing series wins against two top Test nations but South Africas batting icon AB de Villiers decided to put a full stop when a comma could have led to another crack at the World Cup which his nation has not yet got their hands on despite seven attempts Great batsmen like AB deserve a World Cup win on their cricketing CV but it is not going to be the case now and I can hear the cynical voices in the background saying The chokers will miss out againApart from the feats achieved in his 14year international cricket career AB has set the benchmark for ideal if not fairy tale farewells This is a tough decision I have thought long and hard about it and Id like to retire while still playing decent cricket After the fantastic series wins against India and Australia now feels like the right time to step aside AB said in his retirement videoI am not sure whether AB was moved to find out who Vijay Merchant was when he hit deliveries towards the stand named after the Mumbai batting great during his visits to the Wankhede Stadium crease for South Africa and Royal Challengers Bangalore But he did justice to the Merchant retirement mantra mdash retire when they ask why and not when they say why not Merchant scored 154 in the Delhi Test against the 195152 English tourists and quit His oftenquoted mantra emerged from Merchants 1936 tour of EnglandIt is believed that he met England batsman Patsy Hendren at Lords where the Indians played their tour game against Middlesex Merchant asked Hendren whether he was quitting international cricket and Hendren replied Retire when they ask why and not when they say why not Merchants advice to any player looking to retire was a constant But Polly Umrigar Indias top rungetter in Test cricket before Sunil Gavaskar went past him experienced something different when he sought Merchants view before quitting cricket after the 1962 series in the West Indies Merchant urged Umrigar to think about his retirement for two days before getting back to him Umrigar returned to tell Merchant that he had decided to pull the plug and his mentor responded by saying It is the wisest decision you have made PollyABs retirement last week stunned the world but there was nothing grey about his views He felt he was running out of fuel and said so Not only did he merely thank his teammates but stressed that he wouldnt have been half the player he was had it not been for them There was nothing he wouldnt do for South Africa From opening the innings batting in the middleorder pouching catches with aplomb and wicketkeeping too mdash a role that South Africas batting legend Graeme Pollock questioned but AB accepted without a fuss He is too good a batsman to be a wicketkeeper as well in Tests His job is to field mdash and hes a good fielder mdash and to make runs Its hard work to keep for a dayandahalf You could injure your fingers and that would hamper your battingI dont think thats the way to treat him Pollock told me when AB handled the big gloves in 2014 Pollock and Barry Richards have been rated as the finest batsmen produced by the Rainbow Nation and AB fits well in their group along with the great allrounder Jacques Kallis Pollock loved the way AB pushed bowlers to the depths of despair The important aspect about batting is putting bowlers under pressure People think that batting is about not getting out but you have got to score runs at the same time Pollock saidAB loved gathering runs but nothing gave him more satisfaction than winning matches His teammates knew it all too well because he would sulk even when he ended up on the losing side in a game of foot volley or table tennis as revealed by Dale Steyn in a recent interview in The Cricket MonthlyProbably the best part of AB was that he didnt allow success to go to his head He was a superstar without being a prima donna a run accumulator who didnt get obsessed with the tally alongside his name in the scorebookJohann De Jager a seasoned journalist from Bloemfontein who has reported on AB ever since he debuted for South Africa told me that he never saw a rude side to AB De Jager also remembered what AB spoke about in an interview conducted on a hill in Trinidad during ABs first overseas Test tour where Kallis and Mark Boucher took him under their wing In that interview the young gun vowed to become as good a batsman as Kallis and a fine keeper like Boucher He achieved that and along the way learnt how to be purposeful in everything he did For a good part of his career whoever wished to get him out knew he had to earn his success In the great game of cricket no ones indispensable but AB very nearly ismiddays group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzello Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new 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