ICC World Cup 2019 | AB de Villiers could have handled his comeback back plan better, says Rassie van der Dussen
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Rassie van der Dussen, who replaced AB de Villiers in the South African squad, has stated that the rumbustious batsman could have handled his comeback plans better. It was recently revealed that de Villiers wanted to join the World Cup squad but his request was turned down by the management.
After calling it a day from international cricket last year, de Villiers considered coming out of retirement and join the Proteas for the World Cup. The news, that broke out recently, left the fraternity and fans bewildered as de Villiers enjoys a massive fan following and his comeback had always been the talk of the town.Â
De Villiers made himself available for the selection just before South Africaâs squad announcement, which made his selection a tough one. Rassie van der Dusser, the man who replaced de Villiers in the South African line-up, has stated that the latter should have handled his retirement plans in a much better way. Â
âItâs not necessarily the best question to ask to me because I am involved in it, but had he not retired it definitely would have influenced me directly. But you canât, on the day before the announcement and a team thatâs been working for something for year and even longer than a year, come and say, âI want to make a comeback now,â van der Dusser said, reported ESPNCricinfo.Â
De Villiers is undoubtedly the best batsman to have embraced the game from his country, he belongs to a different league altogether. Van der Dussen acknowledges De Villiers as one of the finest cricketers in the world who wants to play and perform when the platform is huge and the pressure is humongous.Â
âI am not saying he was wrong, or he was right; so, donât misquote me. But it would have set a difficult precedent â not necessarily a wrong one, because itâs still AB, he is still one of the best players in the world â I just think it was handled maybe not in the correct way from his side. I wasnât surprised that he would want to make a comeback on the worldâs biggest stage. Thatâs the thing all the biggest players in sport have in common. They want to perform when the pressure is on and when the stage is at its biggest,â he added.
