Injuries caught me like a thief in the night: AB de Villiers

After being ruled out of the upcoming home Test series against New Zealand due to a elbow injury, AB de Villiers, South Africa's Test skipper, has revealed that injuries have caught up on him "like a thief in the night" and admitted playing a lot of cricket across the globe played a significant part.

This is the first time that de Villiers will be missing a Test match due to injury since his debut in 2004. The batting superstar picked up the elbow injury while playing for Barbados Tridents in the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League.

"I have five to six niggles at the moment, including the shoulder that everybody knows about which started about eight months ago. I have been hanging in there. I did fool myself a bit in thinking that I could just keep going and keep going and it has sort of caught up with me a bit," AB de Villiers said in Durban on Monday (August 15). "It's a big shame that I am losing out a few Test matches. It caught me like a thief in the night. This was not part of the plan."

Rumours of de Villiers hanging up the boots did crop up once again after his latest injury, but the 32-year-old has cleared the air saying he is keen on prolonging his career and expects to be back in full swing for the two-match One-Day International series against Ireland in September, before the Proteas host Australia.

"I love playing for my country and I would love to play as long as I can. You've got to look after your body sometimes and that's happening with the six weeks now. Hopefully after this New Zealand series I will be ready to go and will tackle the Aussies in October. There's a game against Ireland in seven weeks' time. That's a good time to test where I am physically," the top-ranked ODI batsman explained.

The Proteas held a preparatory camp ahead of a busy schedule where they take on New Zealand, Ireland, Australia, Sri Lanka and England . With the Test side going through a transition period, de Villiers urged the team to play a positive brand of cricket in series against New Zealand.

"The one thing we did discuss is to throw the first punch. We have always been proud of how we can come back from any position but I feel it's time to take a step towards positivity and not be scared to throw the first punch and dominate games of cricket. We've been playing cricket, white ball for some, red ball for others. The boys will be nice and positive," he opined.