Wouldn’t take return to ODI cricket completely out of equation, admits AB de Villiers
Days after expressing his desire to play for South Africa in the T20 World Cup, AB de Villiers has now revealed that he wouldn’t take a return to ODI cricket out of the equation as well. De Villiers had made an attempt to feature for South Africa at last year’s World Cup, which fell through.
He’s been scoring plenty of runs in T20 leagues everywhere, but when de Villiers expressed his desire to return to the international stage last week, fans around the world took note. Recently, while speaking to commentator Adam Gilchrist during Melbourne Heat's loss to the Adelaide Strikers in the ongoing edition of the Big Bash League (BBL), AB added that he isn’t ruling out an ODI return either.
"I would love to play, that was never the problem. I always wanted to play for South Africa, it's a great honour to play international cricket. Watching some of the Test matches over December I was definitely thinking it would be really nice to be out there, but things have changed in my life ... I don't want to play 11 months of the year anymore, it's too much. ODIs I wouldn't take completely out of the equation, but for Test matches, it's pretty much done," De Villiers was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.
Though he hung up his Proteas shirt in May 2018, the 35-year-old had made himself available for the 2019 World Cup, but the Cricket South Africa (CSA) selectors felt it was too late. With the appointment of Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher to key roles in the board, de Villiers believes his return will be easier.Â
"I've been chatting with Mark Boucher, Smithy and some of the guys involved so hopefully, it all works out. We've had a few good discussions about the possible way forward. I'm going to have to score some runs obviously," de Villiers added.
