Former South African captain AB de Villiers has penned an emotional message for his teammate Hashim Amla, who on Wednesday decided to retire from all forms of cricket. Amla, regarded as one of South Africa’s greatest ever batsmen, confirmed that he would not be returning to Surrey for the County Championship. The 39-year-old scored 34,104 runs across formats including first-class. He scored 9,282 Test runs between 2004–2019, second only to Jacques Kallis for South Africa.
Tweeting about the great, AB de Villiers wrote: “Hashim Amla..where do I start?! It’s not easy. It may take me days, weeks, months, years. I could literally write a book about you. Humaim, thank you for always being with me. You have always been a brother who made me feel secure in more ways than one. Your journey was not easy. “The Guy With the Weird Technique”. “He’ll never last”. “He’ll never be consistent”.
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He further added, “But then, in your own very unique way, you went out there again and again and batted just the way you can. Calm, composed, consistent, courageous, skilful and humble, Always for the team, for my country. You inspire me in a way I can’t explain.”
Hashim Amla.. where do I begin?! It’s not easy. It may take me days, weeks, months, years.
I could literally write a book about you.
Humaim, thank you for always being with me. You have always been a brother who made me feel secure in more ways than one.
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) January 18, 2023
So, today, I salute you my friend. You served the game to perfection! We all can learn from him. i did
I wish I could bat with you one more time.
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) January 18, 2023
AB de Villiers concluded by saying, “So, today, I salute you my friend. You served the game to perfection! We all can learn from him. I did I wish I could bat with you one more time.”
Hashim Amla scored 8113 runs, including 27 hundreds in 181 ODIs and 1,277 runs in 44 T20Is. He called time on his international cricket following the conclusion of South Africa’s campaign in the 2019 World Cup.
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Announcing his retirement, Hasim Amla said, “I have fond memories of The Oval ground and it fills me with great gratitude to finally leave as a player. The Surrey ship is run so professionally that any international player would feel a sense of honor to feature in it.
“I have great memories of The Oval ground and to finally leave it as a player fills me with great gratitude.”
Memories to last a lifetime. Thanks, Hash 🤎 pic.twitter.com/wbSfwvHktQ
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) January 18, 2023
