Mr. Cricket also feels this England star will steal the show at next month's mega event.
Former Australian skipper Mike Hussey believes South African ODI skipper AB de Villiers is `desperate` to win a big trophy for his country, saying he is "highly motivated, personally and for the team" ahead of next month's Champions Trophy. Although de Villiers hasn't quit Test cricket so far, he has more than once expressed his desire to focus on 50-over cricket, with the glory of 2019 World Cup is something which is driving him in his cricket career.
Hussey, who revealed he met de Villiers while commentating during the ongoing tenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), said that the South African skipper is extremely motivated to guide his side to silverware at the moment, something which can prove to be pretty dangerous for the opposition.
"I caught up with him while I was in India (commentating the IPL) and he's desperate to win a tournament with South Africa in one-day cricket. He thinks they can win a World Cup, so this is like a mini-World Cup and it's what's driving him in his cricket career at the moment," Hussey told cricket.com.au. "When you've got such a quality player that's highly motivated, personally and for the team, then that's a pretty dangerous combination for the opposition," he added.
The 33-year-old made his first-class and List A debuts in 2003, five years after South Africa won the ICC tournament in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 1998, when it was known as the ICC Knock-Out. That remains South Africa's only silverware at a major multi-nation event, with heart-breaking losses including three World Cup semi-final defeats and a crushing rain-affected tie on home soil in 2003. AB de Villiers would want to break his nation's reputation as 'chokers' by winning South Africa's first piece international career comes to an end.
Last August, de Villiers took time off to get a number of injuries treated, and then suffered an elbow injury that ruled him out of the home Test series win against New Zealand the Test tour of South Africa. While he returned to limited-overs cricket for South Africa in February, he opted out of the Test series in New Zealand in March ' an absence he has since extended to the four-Test tour of England in July-August and the succeeding two Tests against Bangladesh.
And Hussey believes that he would be "surprised" if de Villiers plays Test cricket again due to the toll the longest-format of the game takes on your body. "If I'm being honest I'd be surprised if he keeps playing (Tests) due to the toll Test cricket takes on your body. Body-wise he has back problems plus he's had this elbow injury that kept him out for a long time.I think he'll really try and focus on the shorter formats of the game," Hussey said.
De Villiers is currently the top-ranked ODI batsman in the world. He also owns the fastest one-day century (31 balls against the Windies in 2015) and has reached 9,000 runs in fewer innings than any other batsman in the game.
Hussey has also predicted that Ben Stokes will steal the show on his home turf during next month's Champions Trophy, saying that the England all-rounder can have the same seismic impact as South Africa heavy-hitter Lance Klusener had in the 1999 World Cup.
Stokes grabbed eyeballs in the 2017 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction held on February 20 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Bengaluru as he was snapped up for a record sum of Rs 14.5 crores by Rising Pune Supergiants.
The 25-year-old did justice to his selection as he starred with both ball and bat, blasting a bruising century to guide Rising Pune Supergiant to a thrilling five-wicket win against Gujarat Lions and taking 10 wickets in as many matches as the T20 lucrative tournament draws to a close with his team set to feature in the playoffs.
It was Stokes batting display and extraordinary form in IPL that left Hussey to believe that the all-rounder would be the standout player in the upcoming 50-over tournament to be held in England and Wales from June 1.
Hussey, who is popularly known as 'Mr. Cricket', believes Stokes is 'right up there' with the most damaging stroke-makers he has witnessed in the two decades he's been involved at the elite level.
"I've watched him in India in the IPL and he's playing really well. I feel like his batting has improved immeasurably, he's now starting to really work it out. And with experience he's getting better as a short-form bowler as well, he's more confident in his own ability," cricket.com.au quoted Hussey as saying.
Describing Stokes as an `incredible` talent, Hussey insisted that the former has all the assets required to emerge as a really dangerous player to face.
"He's an incredible talent, incredible power. Once he starts figuring the game out in the mind, how he plays best and with a bit more experience it's a really dangerous combination. All the assets are there and if his confidence is up and gets the opportunity to play well then he could get on a roll and be really hard to stop," Hussey said of Stokes, whose unbeaten century against Gujarat Lions brought back memories of Klusener's heroics in the 1999 World Cup in England where the man known as 'Zulu' was crowned the player of the tournament.
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 "Cricket, south africa, Mike Hussey, AB de Villiers, ben stokes, england, Champions Trophy, bangladesh, gujarat lions, lance klus")
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