Last month, South African batting legend AB de Villiers had hinted towards making an international comeback for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 scheduled to be held in India later this year. However, the latest developments have dimmed the chances of De Villiers’ return as Cricket South Africa (CSA) has revealed that the former Proteas skipper has decided that his retirement will remain final.
On Tuesday, CSA announced in a release that discussions with de Villiers have concluded, and the batter has decided not to make a comeback.
“Discussions with AB de Villiers have concluded with the batsman deciding once and for all, that his retirement will remain final,” CSA said in its statement.
De Villiers bid farewell to international cricket in May 2018 but has been quite active in franchise T20 tournaments. He was recently spotted in the now-postponed Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, showing all his class while representing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
During that time, De Villiers had revealed that he had been in talks with Mark Boucher, head coach of CSA, concerning his return in the international arena.
“I haven’t had a discussion with Bouchy (Mark Boucher) yet. We are lined up to have a chat somewhere during the IPL, but yes, we have been talking about it. Last year, he asked me if I would be interested. And I said, ‘absolutely’. And come to the end of the IPL, we will have a look at where we are regarding my form and my fitness. Also, the situation with his team – he’s got to look at his guys who have been performing well over the last while,” the Pretoria lad had said.
De Villiers played 114 Tests, 228 ODIs and 78 T20 Internationals (T20Is) for South Africa, amassing 8765, 9577, and 1672 runs, respectively.
