AB de Villiers, the former captain of the South African cricket team, recently revealed that he played the final two years of his career with a significant eye injury. The revelation comes years after his retirement from international cricket in 2018, although he continued playing in the Indian Premier League until 2021.
In his last IPL match, de Villiers' team, Royal Challengers Bangalore, faced off against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2021 playoffs.
Speaking to Wisden Cricket Monthly, de Villiers disclosed the details of his eye injury, which occurred not long before his retirement. The injury was the result of an accidental kick to his eye by his child. This incident led to a decline in his right eye's vision.
Remarkably, he managed to continue his cricket career despite the injury. Recalling his doctor's reaction after the surgery, de Villiers shared, “When I got the surgery done the doctor actually asked me, ‘How in the world did you play cricket like this?’. Luckily my left eye did a decent job for the last two years of my career.”