Former South Africa Captain and widely regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world in all the three formats, AB de Villiers has announced that he is retiring from international cricket with immediate effect.

AB de Villiers, who made his Test debut for South Africa in 2004 against England and ODI debut in 2005 against the same opposition, ends his career with 8765 runs in 114 Tests, 9577 runs in 228 ODIs and 1672 runs in 78 T20Is. De Villiers also captained the South African team in 2015 ICC World Cup and took the team to semi-finals.

De Villiers announced his decision to retire, stating that he was tired and wanted to go out on a high and after winning the Test series against India and Australia was perhaps the right time to do so.

De Villiers also stated that he intends to continue playing domestic cricket for Titans and extended support to Faf du Plessis and the Proteas team.

Here is the AB de Villiers’ retirement announcement: