South Africa’s swashbuckling cricketer AB de Villiers will not be coming out of retirement to join the squad ahead of T20 World Cup. Cricket South Africa (CSA) released a statement amidst rumours of De Villiers returning to the international side.
“Discussions with AB de Villiers have concluded with the batsman deciding once and for all, that his retirement will remain final,” CSA said in a statement posted on social media.
AB de Villiers finalises international retirement.
Discussions with AB de Villiers have concluded with the batsman deciding once and for all, that his retirement will remain final. pic.twitter.com/D3UDmaDAS2
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) May 18, 2021
CSA today announced the T20I, Test squad for the tour of West Indies and ODI squad for Ireland which did not include De Villiers’ name.
The 37-year-old was in a splendid form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) before the tournament suspended due to several players and staff testing positive for Covid-19. He scored 207 runs in seven games this season at an average of 51.75 including two half-centuries.
“I haven’t had a chat with Boucher yet. But we are lined up to have a chat somewhere during the IPL. But yes, we have been talking about it. He asked me last year if I would be interested. I said ‘absolutely’,” De Villiers had said last month.
Recently, South Africa were outsmarted by Pakistan in the home series where they were beaten 2-1 and 3-1 by the visitors in ODI and T20I series respectively.
De Villiers took retirement from international cricket in 2018 ahead of World Cup 2019 where the Faf du Plessis-led team won just three out of nine games and failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
SA T20I squad for West Indies: Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Sisanda Magala, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius
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