Dale Steyn posts heartfelt letter to 'champion' AB

Cape Town - Dale Steyn has paid tribute to former Proteas team-mate AB de Villiers who announced his retirement from international cricket on Wednesday.

READ: How does AB's Test, ODI & T20I record stack up? - STATS

The Proteas fast bowler joined the chorus of cricket legends to pay tribute to De Villiers on social media.

The 34-year-old Steyn wrote a heart-warming letter to De Villiers on his Instagram page, with Steyn saying there "will never be another AB de Villiers":

We started this cricket thing way back in 2004 We’ve seen the world, met amazing people, played the great teams and beaten the best there is in it too. We’ve shared change rooms, been roomies, golf partners, McDonald’s after late nights. You’re a champion man in my book bud, and I’m pretty sure in everyone else’s too. Congratulations on a stellar international career, it’s been a incredible journey and privilege to have shared it with you. There’ll never be another Ab de Villiers ????

A post shared by ?? (@dalesteyn) on May 24, 2018 at 2:06am PDT

De Villiers represented his country in 114 Tests, 228 ODIs and 78 T20Is.

The 34-year-old retires with an incredible Test average of 50.66 and as the fourth-highest run-scorer for South Africa with 8 765 runs (22 centuries).

His exploits in the limited-overs formats have been extraordinary, and he finishes as the No 2-ranked player in the world and as the second highest run-scorer behind Jacques Kallis with 9 577 runs at an average of 53.50.