SA head coach Mark Boucher revealed that coming in for another player who has been a part of the system didn’t sit well with AB de Villiers. That is one of the reasons why the South African superstar put off his plans to make a comeback in international cricket.
AB de Villiers and his international comeback have once again become the talk of the town. Earlier this week, South Africa announced their Test and T20I squads that will travel to the Caribbean to face the West Indies in two Tests and five T20Is in June. They also named a squad that will fly to Ireland for a white-ball tour.
There was one name that went missing for the squads, and that was of AB de Villiers. There were talks going on that the 37-year-old superstar will make a comeback to international cricket this year and feature in the T20 World Cup later this year. However, CSA confirmed that de Villiers has taken a final call on his retirement, and he won’t be making a comeback.
During the IPL 2021, de Villiers had hinted that he will have a discussion with head coach in regards to his international comeback at the end of the tournament. He wanted to see where his form and fitness is and then have a chat with Boucher. As far as de Villiers’ form goes, it has been top-notch for a while now.
He has been setting the IPL on fire for a long time now. In fact, since he retired from international cricket, de Villiers has smashed 2669 runs at an average of 45.24 and a strike-rate of 157.28 in T20 cricket. Even in the IPL 2021, de Villiers amassed 207 at an average of 51.75 and was striking at 164.28. He played three game-changing knocks as well in tough situations and tricky conditions.
Hence, there is absolutely no doubt that de Villiers is by far one of the best T20 players going around in the world at the moment, and Boucher acknowledged that fact. However, he mentioned that de Villiers had his own reasons, and he felt that coming in ahead of some of the other players who have been a part of the T20I setup wouldn’t be right.
“AB has his reasons, which I respect. Unfortunately, he’s no longer in the mix. I say unfortunately because I think we all agree that he’s still one of the best, if not the best T20 player in world cricket. But he alluded to being concerned about coming in ahead of other players who have been a part of the system. I don’t think it sat well with him, which I understand,”
Boucher was quoted saying to The Citizen.
It was back in May 2018 that de Villiers shocked the world and announced his retirement from international cricket. There have been multiple instances where he has indicated that he would want to make a comeback as well. However, that chapter now seems to be closed forever.
Boucher wants everybody to move on from that. He feels that as a coach, his job is to get the best players but he respects de Villiers’ reasoning.
“As a coach, I needed to try and get our best players, for the team and the environment. AB is an energy-booster in any environment, but I respect his reasoning. It was worth a go, but now let’s move forward,”
Boucher further added.
South Africa are scheduled to play a two-match Test series against West Indies which kicks off on the 10th of June at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia. The five-match T20I rubber is set to start on the 26th of June and all five games will be played at the National Cricket Stadium in St George’s, Grenada.
