AB de Villiers bid farewell to international cricket in 2018. Despite being pressured by the board to play in the 2019 World Cup, this South African legendary batter did not return to the field. However, Villiers played IPL till 2021.

With the skill and power with which he played even in the last part of his career, many people think that AB took his retirement too early. But it was revealed by AB de Villers that the true reason for his retirement was that he had played the final two years of his career with a detached retina.

In an interview with Wisden Cricket Monthly, Villiers said, "My youngster accidentally kicked me on my eye with his heel. I started really losing vision in the right eye. 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.”

The Proteas star did not go into such detail before talking about an eye injury during his retirement. He continued to bat at the end of his career keeping the harmony between his hands and eyes.