‘The two of them didn’t talk’ – AB de Villiers reveals dressing room secret about former coach-captain clash

Ray Jennings and Graeme Smith. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Legendary South Africa skipper AB de Villiers has opened up about the fight between former Proteas captain-coach combo of Graeme Smith and Ray Jennings during their playing time. The 39-year-old stated that the two cricketers hardly spoke to each other, which created an impressive scenario in the South African dressing room then.

While speaking about the appointment of Andy Flower as the new Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) head coach, De Villiers made the disclosure concerning Jennings and Smith. Flower will reunite with former South Africa captain and RCB skipper Faf du Plessis in the Indian Premier League. The duo had previously worked together in the Caribbean Premier League for St Lucia Kings.

“I saw Andy Flower actually posting about wanting to work with Faf and being very excited to work with him. It’s always a good thing. When the coach and captain work really well together, it feeds off into the team. It’s really important for the players to feel the trust, feel that the captain and the coach are on the same ship, heading in the same direction,” De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.

De Villiers went on to say that when Smith and Jennings talk to each other, they will probably end with a fight. The legendary wicketkeeper-batter added that he has interacted more with Smith and also enjoyed Jennings’ coaching approach.

“I’ve played in teams before… Ray Jennings, when Graeme Smith used to be captain, the two of them literally didn’t speak to each other. When they did, they were fighting. It was really interesting. I won’t say it really affected the team. We sort of interacted more with Graeme.

“Even though I had enjoyed Ray’s approach of coaching so much, Graeme was part of the boys and in the team. But the two of them didn’t talk, and it was a very interesting dynamic back in the day,” the 39-year-old added.