‘My son wanted to be a doctor,’ says AB de Villiers’ dad

Mumbai: The family of South African captain AB de Villiers will get up early morning on Sunday to witness their important World Cup match against India.

The 31-year-old captain's parents will also plan to go to Australia if their team performs well ahead in the World Cup matches. Speaking exclusively over his mobile from South Africa on Friday morning, the father, a doctor by profession, Abraham Benjamin Villiers says, "This Sunday's World Cup match is going to be a very exciting match as always between South Africa and India. The MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) wicket might favour the South African bowlers more but I also think India might have the upper hand with their strong batting line up."

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"My wife and I think of watching the semifinals and finals in Australia if our team goes through to the semis," he further added.

Had his son not been cricketer, the skipper would have been a doctor. “AB was academically very strong at school and always thought of becoming a doctor. However, when a Titans contract was offered to him at the age of 19, he instead decided that cricket will be his number one," the doctor-father added.

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The senior AB de Villiers has been practicing as a general practitioner, but specialised in sport medicine (gained his M.Sc. in 1996). Interestingly, AB de Villiers is a very common name in their family. "Not only me and my son have the same name, but my father and grandfather also had the same common name as AB de Villiers," he revealed.