Tributes kept pouring in on Friday for the unexpected announcement that AB de Villiers would be retiring from all forms of cricket, but for me, as a South African, we essentially lost him three years ago already.

Without mistaking the notions I am about to commit to, De Villiers was a fine servant to SA and the Proteas for a good 15 years between 2003 and early 2018, before he announced his shock departure from international cricket.

Undoubtedly, the 37-year-old revolutionised the game through his unconventional and power hitting, which acclaimed him as a “paradigm-altering batsman” by some experts and the nickname, “Mr. 360”, by the general public – and all deservedly so.

He was, without a doubt, a special talent. But that is not what this is about. This is about loyalty and where one’s heart lies in times of toil and circumstance.

De Villiers made the bizarre announcement in 2018 that he was “too tired” to continue playing for the Proteas in either format, which, quite frankly, didn’t make any sense.

Objectivity is my forte, my oyster and my niche by which I strive to tell a narrative, so until De Villiers releases the finer details or background specifics of what had transpired in the lead-up to his decision to quit SA cricket, I will remain fixated on what the player made public, the surface.

I’m anxiously awaiting an AB de Villiers biography of some sorts, which tends to become the soapbox for most renowned sportspeople after they retire – a medium in which they reveal the juicy bits of their fledged careers.

Overseas cricket fans and pundits alike, particularly Indians, had been and continue to glorify and praise De Villiers’s contributions to the game, maybe because of his prominent involvement in the IPL, or maybe because their respective countries hadn’t needed to play against him on the international scene of late.

De Villiers was an entertainer and he was adoring to watch, but his caprice of being “too tired” to play for SA three years ago was seriously contradicted by his drive and eagerness to play in money-spinning T20 tournaments across the world, including in SA’s own, the MSL.

He would also go on to play franchise T20 cricket for the Barbados Tridents (West Indies), Rangpur Riders Middlesex (England), Brisbane Heat (Australia) and Lahore Qalanders (Pakistan), but he was “too tired”, he said?

As a South African flag-bearer, he was absent. He became absent from the hearts and minds of cricket South Africans and he deserted a nation that was instead reviling in rugby revelation because cricket was dwindling in form and performance.

De Villiers failed to show any face at the 2019 Cricket World Cup, and again at the recent 2021 T20 World Cup, which could have served as an ideal send-off for a flourishing player who thrived in T20 cricket. But again, he left SA in the dark.

His loyalty to SA started to really come into question. He publicly showed support to Virat Kohli and India when they struggled and exited the 2019 World Cup, while the Proteas suffered their worst ever exit at the same tournament and there were no words of support from the astute batsman.

For a player who played 114 Tests, 228 ODIs and 78 T20Is for SA, you’d expect more compassion from him. After all, his best and long-time friend, Faf du Plessis, was also the Proteas’ captain at the time.

There were also no words of support – publicly at least – for Du Plessis when he struggled tremendously with form the same year as the one-day World Cup; and also no words of encouragement for the Proteas, who suffered an arid run of form over the next three seasons.

Kohli made a tribute post to De Villiers saying the South African “gave everything to RCB and I know that in my heart”. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said regarding SA cricket.

De Villiers was a fine batsman for the Proteas for 14-plus years – he was a player I always admired the most, he was an idol, an accomplished stalwart for SA, for whom I had the utmost respect.

But the way and manner by which he concluded his career, particularly from SA’s viewpoint, left a sharp sour taste in the mouth.

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