AB de Villiers steps down as captain of the Proteas Test team

[Dark Magician]

Faf needs to have a permanent spot to be a permanent captain.

AB just gave it to him. With This decision the selectors can't replace Faf the batsman.

 

[Slog]

I really dont see why there is so much hate for Faf the batsmen

Sure hes no Kallis or Amla or AB.

But he is a top player

Problem is that people compare him to his predecessor Kallis against whom pretty much everyone will come short.

But if you look at him in isolation he has done a creditable job asides from India

 

[Mamoon]

So he can't retire when he wants because you think it's chickening out?

The timing of his retirement is very off. Now is the time SA need him more than they ever did in his Test career, and he clearly does not have the heart for it.

Cricket is a game of character more than anything and de Villiers is living proof of it. He has more talent than most players that have played the game in its 150 years of history, but he has failed to establish himself as one of the all-time greats, while much inferior players in terms of talent have attained that position.

 

[Mamoon]

I really dont see why there is so much hate for Faf the batsmen

Sure hes no Kallis or Amla or AB.

But he is a top player

Problem is that people compare him to his predecessor Kallis against whom pretty much everyone will come short.

But if you look at him in isolation he has done a creditable job asides from India where he sucked balls

He is unusually poor vs spin for a South African batsman, which is why he is not rated highly.

 

[Chrish]

Faf is easily droppable

 

[street cricketer]

I have argued against AB quite a bit in the past when he was blasting bowlers to all parts and could do no wrong about an year and a half before. Many people rated him as the GOAT of the modern batsmen and I felt he was getting overrated a bit. But now people are going to the other end of the spectrum and dissing him way beyond measure lol. He is having a rough period now but his quality as a batsman is undeniable. I'm skeptical about his world cup record but it's an irrefutable fact that he is among the top 5 ODI batsmen ever. He is comfortably the greatest striker of the cricket ball I've seen and is a South african great in test cricket. His test career is that of an unfulfilled one but he is one of the few (or probably the only one) who consistently stood up against MJ at his peak. He has shown mettle in test cricket too and his quality is proven in the longer format. I just think he isn't dominant enough to be an ATG in the longer format. He still could become one but very difficult now that he is entering the twilight of his career.

On topic, it was quite clear that he wasn't cut out for captaincy. He is struggling with an injury and Faf has just delivered a historic series win in Australia without many great players. I'm sure he must have been feeling a bit guilty of holding to captaincy when Faf probably delivered better than what he could've done. The chronic injury sideline has done him no favours. I'm sure he would've been branded as selfish if he had held on to captaincy despite being on the sidelines and Faf doing well on the field.

 

[soso_killer]

I am not a fan of de Villiers the test cricketer, I actually tend to agree with [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION]'s assessment of his attitude. However, you just destroyed all your credibility with that comment on Tsolekile.

Tsolekile had a poor start to his first class career.
It was once he moved to the Lions that he came to his own. He had a period of 4/5 good seasons prior to being selected in 2012. He was clearly there on merit, and unarguably the best gloves man in the country. He deserved to be awarded an opportunity to play.

Like Bavuma who doesn't have an impressive all round first class record, however over the last 4 seasons he has been one of the most consistent middle order bats. People can say all they like about quotas, but without them Bavuma would have lingered into obscurity like Tsolekile .

 

[soso_killer]

Please, he was one of four players banned for fixing games in the Ram Slam Twenty20. I won't be shedding any tears.

Wow, you have a lot of hate for AB.

Tsolekile was racially discriminated against, uncomfortable topic which needs to be discussed.
If scoring runs domestically isn't good enough to make a starting XI, then what's the criteria for selection?

I don't hate AB, I simply don't rate him as a player nor as a man.

 

[Ozymandiasza]

Tsolekile was racially discriminated against, uncomfortable topic which needs to be discussed.
If scoring runs domestically isn't good enough to make a starting XI, then what's the criteria for selection?

I don't hate AB, I simply don't rate him as a player nor as a man.

I'm trying to understand this, so racial discrimination pushed him to fix games?

You don't rate AB as a player or a man, yet you rate a dishonest cheat.

 

[James]

New update - fresh doubts raised about De Villiers Test cricket future, and a meeting has been called ---

http://www.sportal.co.nz/cricket/ne...prepares-for-talks/19uhynxx3agxl1q44ul5ss5jv1

This was really obvious when the OP story broke of course - but just sharing for the benefit of some others who could use a reality check on this issue.