& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

THIRD EYE

A true athlete

Naimul Karim
Usain Bolt and Roger Federer should be thanking their heavens that AB de Villiers is a cricketer, for had he chosen a slightly different career path during his teenage years, both those legends would have had an extra competitor to deal with.
As exaggerated as the above may sound, it is by no means an overstatement. Just have a glance at de Villiers's childhood sporting records and the questions regarding all the
unique features—the undying stamina, unlimited power and amazing reflexes- that the South African brings into the game shall be answered.
As a student in school de Villiers held several athletic records in his region and still holds the record in the 100m dash in South Africa's junior athletics. A true sportsman, the South African tried out several other sports before eventually coming into cricket.
He first tried his hand out at tennis. He was so impressive that Nick Bollettieri-the coach who had a hand in creating
players like Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Martina hinges—was compelled to give him a spot in his academy in Florida.
While he did represent South Africa in the juniors Davis Cup, he refused to move to Florida.
From one racquet-sport, he moved to another. He was South Africa's Under 19 national champion in badminton. However, the monotony of living his life between the 15-yard squares of a badminton court was never going to be enough for the power-hitter and he eventually moved on.
He was shortlisted for South Africa's junior hockey and football teams. If that wasn't enough he earned six junior South African swimming records to his name.
However, many reckon that he would have been a Rugby player had he not moved his attention to cricket in the later stages. Rugby was the most popular sport in his school and he went on to get selected for the Blue Bills U-18 side, which had players that later represented the national South African team.
In other words, by the time de Villiers entered the gentleman's game, he had championed six different sports.
And if that's not enough to blow your brains out, de Villiers also has a music single to his name! In 2008, he released a song called 'Show them who you are', a motivational song which he released along with his friend Ampie du Preez.
WhendeVilliers was asked to why he chose cricket, his reply was simple; it was something that he thought he could pursue professionally in South Africa.
He had more than seven pathways that he could have chosen to set his career; there's every chance that he could have excelled in either of those and yet he chose cricket. And its innings like the one he played yesterday that reminds cricket analysts how thankful they should be for that decision.