There may not be any chances of former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers playing in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and but there is a possibility of him featuring in the following World Cup in 2023, provided former India captain MS Dhoni too plays in that marquee event to be hosted by India.
De Villiers, who had announced his retirement from international cricket last year, was asked by Gaurav Kapoor on his show ‘Breakfast with champions’ about the chances of him playing in the next World Cup.
The Proteas legend came up with an interesting reply: “How old will I be (in 2023)? 39! I’ll come back if MS (Dhoni) is still around (laughs). If I’m still good enough, who knows eh?”
Well, there is no doubt on AB’s fitness but imagining him coming out of retirement just to play the World Cup four years later when he could have easily done the same in the upcoming edition is farfetched.
Perhaps, that’s why de Villiers mentioned Dhoni’s name. There are very little chances of the 37-year-old Dhoni playing the next ODI World Cup, though it will be played in India.
On the show, De Villiers also revealed the reason behind announcing his international retirement an year before the 2019 World Cup. He said criticism back home for picking and choosing matches was one of the main reasons behind his decision.
“I was keen to play the World Cup (2019) but I retired, so it was a very sensitive situation. For the last 3 years of my career, I was labelled as a guy who was picking and choosing when I was playing and when not”.
“So I got quite a lot of criticism from back home which also played a role in me retiring. And it was difficult for me to then go: ‘Hey, but I’ll still play the World Cup’. You know, it’s the picking and choosing thing again. And it’s quite arrogant to do something like that. But as they say, you can’t have your bread buttered on both sides,” said AB.
De Villiers, however, still continues to play in foreign T20 leagues. He is a part of team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL.
