Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that he predicted former South African captain, AB de Villiers’ rise in 2008, saying he told him he would become one of the game’s greats and lead the South African cricket team.
“I met him during IPL back in 2008. It was at a function, at a private ceremony. And I told him that he is a great player and asked him to get prepared to captain the South African team. I told him that he would become one of the greatest players ever.”
de Villiers is regarded as one of South Africa’s most successful cricketers, especially in white-ball cricket.
The world’s fastest bowler went on to say that he was very fortunate that whenever he faced the greatest batter, he was able to dismiss him. Akhtar also recalled a time when they faced each other in the IPL and de Villiers attempted to play the pull shot.
“Fortunately, whenever I faced him I managed to dismiss him and at times I even felt that I could dismiss him easily. Then when he came to IPL, he tried to play the pull shot, but I knew that he would be late because there was a lot of pace on my delivery.”
It is worth noting that Shoaib Akhtar has dismissed the world-class batter four times in ten innings. However, Akhtar said he was sad and angry when de Villiers announced his retirement from cricket back in 2021.
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