Dissecting the drama: the complete timeline of the ‘de Villiers comeback’ fiasco that lasted 3 years

May 23, 2018:  AB de Villiers, four days after completing RCB’s IPL 2018 campaign, announces his retirement from international cricket.  De Villiers’ announcement leaves the cricketing fraternity shocked and sends social media into meltdown.

"It would not be right for me to pick and choose where, when and in what format I play for the Proteas. For me, in the green and gold, it must be everything or nothing.”

"I will keep on playing IPL for a few years, and I would like to play for the Titans, and help some of the youngsters. But there are no set plans. I haven't been able to say that for a long time.

"There are some offers on the table from around the world, but it will be nice to wake up and wonder what to do; to be normal,” he says.

"He has indicated it would be something he is keen on. But we need to talk about the scale. AB has just retired with the notion of him wanting to spend more time with family. If I am going to put him in the development or pipeline structures and he ends up spending more time away than when he was in the national team, it is obviously not going to work for him."

August 16, 2018: Three months after retirement, de Villiers breaks his silence and reveals that the pressure of playing international cricket was ‘unbearable.’  He says that he is delighted to have stepped away from that environment.

September 7, 2018: De Villiers lands a gig in an overseas T20 league; signs up with Lahore Qalandars for PSL 2019. 

October 26, 2018:  De Villiers also signs up to play in the inaugural Mzansi Super League (MSL) edition, and says that it will be ‘arrogant’ and ‘selfish’ on his part to throw statements claiming that he’d love to play in the 2019 World Cup.

"I certainly do not want to confuse anyone around the world, especially the Proteas team. It will be very selfish and arrogant of me to throw statements around that I want to play at the World Cup. I am happy where I am and focusing on the now and I will never say 'never say never' again. My focus at the moment is to play good cricket in the Mzansi Super League for the Tshwane Spartans. I have been working hard to be fit."

October 27, 2018:  More franchise cricket - De Villiers signs up to represent Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

18 April, 2019:  South Africa name 15-man squad for the 2019 World Cup. There is no place for AB de Villiers, who is representing Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2019 edition of the IPL.  

June 6, 2019: A day after South Africa’s loss to India, their third consecutive defeat in the 2019 World Cup, leaks emerge revealing that the South African management had turned down de Villiers’ offer to play in the 2019 World Cup. The report reveals that de Villiers had reached out to the management one day before the announcement of the 15-man squad, and adds that the management rejected the veteran’s offer as it would be “unfair to the squad that had been together for the past year since de Villiers announced his retirement.”

“All that’s important is that we should all focus on supporting the team at the World Cup. There is a long way to go and I believe the boys can still go all the way #ProteaFire,” his Tweet reads.

June 6, 2019:  Following the revelations, Cricket South Africa's selection panel convener, Linda Zondi, issues the following statement.

"For Faf du Plessis and Ottis Gibson to share AB's desire to be included in the squad on the day we announced our World Cup squad on April 18th was a shock to all of us. AB left a big vacuum when he retired, we had a year to find players at franchise level to fill the gap. We had players who put in the hard work, who put up their hands and deserved to be given the opportunity to go to the World Cup. The decision was based on principle; we had to be fair to the team, the selection panel, our franchise system and players.

"At no point in the year that he had retired did he make himself available for selection. It was no option when I received the news on the day of the squad announcement, our squad was finalised and confirmed. AB is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world but above all else, we have to stay true to our morals and principles; there is no regret in the decision."

"It was just a conversation. a phone call the night before the team got announced. It was just a 'This is what I'm feeling'.

"I said to him, 'I think it is too late but I will check in with the coach and the selectors the next morning to get their opinion on it, as the squad was already announced or picked'.

June 14, 2019: One day before South Africa’s clash against Afghanistan, with the Proteas still winless in the competition, Rassie van der Dussen implies that de Vlliers handled the situation poorly.

"But you can't, on the day before the announcement and a team that's been working for something for year and even longer than a year, come and say, 'I want to make a comeback now'. I am not saying he was wrong or he was right; so don't misquote me. But it would have set a difficult precedent - not necessarily a wrong one, because it's still AB, he is still one of the best players in the world - I just think it was handled maybe not in the correct way from his side,” van der Dussen says. 

"Faf and I have been friends since we were at school together and, two days before the World Cup squad was announced, I contacted him for a chat. I had been in decent form during the Indian Premier League and casually repeated what I had said when asked a year earlier, that I was available if required... but only if required.

"I made absolutely no demands at all. I certainly did not try to force my way into the World Cup squad on the eve of the tournament, and did not expect to be included. There was no burning issue from my side, and no sense of injustice."

"The story was not leaked by me, or anybody associated with me, or by Faf. Maybe someone wanted to deflect criticism. I don't know,” de Villiers says.

December 14, 2019: Following the World Cup debacle, South Africa sack Otis Gibson and appoint legendary wicket-keeper and AB’s former teammate Mark Boucher as the men’s national side’s head coach.

"If I feel he is one of your best players, why wouldn't I want to have a conversation with him? I've only just got into the job, I might have conversations with quite a few players and see where they are,” Boucher says.

December 17, 2019:  Du Plessis confirms that de Villiers in in talks to feature in the T20 WC in 2020.

January 14, 2020:  Representing Brisbane Heat in the BBL, de Villiers says he would “love to'' play in the WT20 scheduled to take place in Australia later in the year. He says that all parties - himself, Boucher and Graeme Smith - are keen to ‘make it happen’.

"There's a lot that needs to happen before that becomes reality, I would love to. I've been talking to Bouch, Graeme Smith and Faf back home. We are all keen to make it happen, it's a long way away still and plenty can happen - there's the IPL coming, I've still got to be in form at that time. I'm thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping everything will work out.

February 16, 2020: Boucher says that De villiers will play in the World Cup if he makes himself available for the requested duration.

"If AB is in good form and he is raring to go and he makes himself available for the time we have asked him to be available; if he is the best man for the job, then he must go. It's not about egos or anything like that, it's about sending your best team to the World Cup to try and win that competition."

February 17, 2020: South Africa name squad for three-match T20I series versus Australia at home, but there is no place for AB de Villiers.

March 2020:  A global coronavirus outbreak halts all cricket across the world. The 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League is indefinitely postponed and reports start emerging that there is a high chance that even the World T20 in October could get postponed. 

"If the tournament is postponed to next year, a whole lot of things will change. At the moment I feel available but at the same time, I don't know how my body will feel then and if I will be fit.”

July 20, 2020: ICC confirm that WT20 2020 has been postponed to 2021. They also confirm that the 2021 edition will be hosted by India, with Australia taking up the 2022 edition.

"He was definitely in line. If fit, I would have loved to have AB de Villiers. I think any team would have loved to have AB de Villiers in their team. While we were pushing for him, now we will have to see when the T20 World Cup is going to happen now."

September and October 2020: De Villiers features in the rescheduled 2020 edition of the IPL and showcases the world his quality by turning out to be one of the best performers in the competition. He has, however, still made no public statements about making a potential international comeback. 

April 18, 2021: De Villiers, playing in the 2021 edition of the IPL, confirms that he will have a chat with Boucher ‘very soon’ regarding his international comeback. 

"We are lined up to have a chat sometime during the IPL. But yes, we've been talking about it already. Last year, he asked me if I would be interested. And I said, 'absolutely'. And come the end of the IPL, we will have a look at where we are at with regards to my form and my fitness.

May 18, 2021: Cricket South Africa (CSA) confirm that AB de Villiers will NOT be making an international comeback, and make it clear that he has ‘retired permanently’. 

“AB de Villiers finalises international retirement. Discussions with AB de Villiers have concluded with the batsman deciding once and for all, that his retirement will remain final.”