England Test captain Joe Root has stated that recently-retired Protea legend AB de Villiers has done some extremely freakish things in his career. The South African, also known as Mr 360 for his ability to play all around the park, announced his retirement yesterday, citing being tired as a reason for his decision.

And Joe Root believes that AB de Villiers has had a wonderful career for South Africa and has been a loyal servant to them.

“I think it is very different. If you look at someone like AB, he has had a wonderful career, done freakish things in the game across three formats and he has been a great servant to South Africa. But he has been doing it for 12, 14 years, a long time, and by anyone’s standards that is a long career,” Root was quoted as saying by the media.

Root’s England are set to take on Pakistan in two-match Test series ahead of their series against India. Speaking about his team-mate Alastair Cook, Joe Root stated that his experience is vital and believes that he can play for another two years at least.

“He has huge amounts of experience, a lot of good memories at this ground. As far as I’m aware, I can see him playing for another couple of years at least.

“He’s such a big part of our dressing-room. When he scores runs, it correlates with us doing well.”

England take on Pakistan in the first Test of this year’s English summer. The second match of the series will take place from the 1^st, after which the home side with host India.