South African cricketer Khaya Zondo explains why he lost respect for AB De Villiers

In an extremely shocking revelation, Khaya Zonda explains why he has lost respect for his childhood hero and star Proteas batsman, AB De Villiers.

AB De Villiers is undoubtedly one of the best and most accomplished cricketers of South Africa. The Proteas legend time and again shattered records with his blazing blade and still continues to leave his dominating stamp in T20 franchise cricket, across the globe. Not just on the field, outside the field too, AB De Villiers is an absolute showstopper and has a humongous fan-following.

But in this highly surprising case, former South African batsman Khaya Zondo has revealed that he had lost all respect for AB De Villiers after the former captain prevented him from featuring in an ODI in 2015.

In the Social Justice and Nation Building hearings, Khaya Zondo revealed that AB De Villiers orchestrated his exclusion from the final One Day game against India and it sent shockwaves down his spine. The batter revealed that it was AB De Villiers who took him to a side and broke the disheartening news to him.

“The captain (de Villiers) called me over to the side, away from the rest of the team and mentioned to me he was the one who felt I should not play. He was trying to explain himself and he was taking full responsibility for the decision,” said Zondo while reading out his submission to the Transformation Ombudsman, Adv. Dumisa Ntsebeza.

“I remember in the moment of him explaining himself to me, losing all respect for him as a captain, and as someone I looked up to as a cricketing hero of mine because I could not believe this guy was trying to justify himself to me, and it came across as if I should accept this decision because the decision came from him.”

“I switched off mentally for the rest of the day and I detached myself from the team because it was clear I was not wanted. Switching off helped me cope with everything that was happening. The hardest part was watching the players who were selected ahead of me playing and having the opportunity to shine for South Africa on a world stage, in India and having a chance to play and potentially impress and get future IPL opportunities.” he said further.

The right-handed Khaya Zondo has represented South Africa in 5 ODI games and has amassed 142 runs. He has had a modest average of 35.5 and a below-par S/R of 63.4. He also has notched up one fifty.