West Indies holds a special place in AB de Villiers‘ heart as it has been one of his favorite teams to play against. In January 2015, he etched his name in cricket history by smashing the fastest century (31 balls) ever recorded in the game against the West Indies. Over the course of 24 matches against them, De Villiers accumulated 1279 runs at an impressive average of 67.32, including five centuries and four fifties.
During the match in Sydney in 2015 World Cup in February, where South Africa scored 408 runs, De Villiers registered the fastest 150 in cricket history (64 balls) also against the West Indies. Serving as the captain at the time, he displayed his extraordinary batting skills by striking 17 fours and eight sixes during his explosive innings.
Interestingly, the former world No1 ODI batter, recently revealed that he was sick before the game. In an interview on JioCinema’s ‘Home of Heroes,’ the former South African skipper shared that he was unwell the morning of the match and didn’t even warm up before going out to bat. He mentioned that he had been unable to sleep the previous night due to medications, and he was actually sleeping before his innings. De Villiers said that he told the coach he was going to take a nap and not warm up for the game.
“I’ll give you one more example of that. Sydney Cricket Ground 2015. We played a World Cup game against the West Indies. And I was very nervous, very fired up. It’s a must win for us. But 3:00 that morning I got really sick in my room, and I got injections and all sorts of stuff. I didn’t sleep. I arrived at the Sydney Cricket Ground and I told the coach, listen, I don’t think I can warm up, I’m just going to take a nap,” the former South African said.
In addition to revealing his illness and lack of preparation, De Villiers also shared his experience of how he felt before stepping out to bat against the West Indies. The 39-year-old described the moments before his innings as if everything was happening in slow motion. He mentioned being in a half-asleep state and having a unique perception of the game.
The Pretoria-born explained that on that particular day, he had a sensation of seeing the ball bigger than usual, which made batting seemingly easier for him.
“I remember standing there facing my first ball and I was like, I don’t care if I get out there, I’m just going to see the ball and just like move slowly. Be in my mode, you know? And it was incredible how in such slow motion everything happened that day. Seeing the ball bigger, I was half asleep. Looking at the sun just standing there going like, oh, this game is actually so enjoyable, so easy, so slow and it’s so difficult to get into that zone. In that zone, it’s so enjoyable,” De Villiers concluded.
