CAPETOWN: Cricket South Africa officially announced that discussions with AB de Villiers have concluded, putting an end to speculation of the star batsman coming out of retirement.
De Villiers’ name was missing from the three squads that CSA announced for their West Indies and Ireland tours. “Discussions with AB de Villiers have concluded with the batsman deciding once and for all, that his retirement will remain final,” CSA said in a statement posted on social media.
The 37-year-old was in a splendid form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) before the tournament was suspended. He scored 207 runs in seven matches this season at an average of 51.75 including two half-centuries.
“I haven’t had a chat with Boucher yet. But we are lined up to have a chat somewhere during the IPL. But yes, we have been talking about it. He asked me last year if I would be interested. I said ‘absolutely’,” De Villiers had said last month.
Recently, South Africa were outsmarted by Pakistan in the home series where they were beaten 2-1 and 3-1 by the visitors in ODI and T20I series respectively.
De Villiers took retirement from international cricket in 2018 ahead of World Cup 2019 where the Faf du Plessis-led team won just three out of nine games and failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
The 19-member Test squad for the West Indies tour will see Dean Elgar lead the Proteas for the first time since his permanent appointment as Test captain in March 2021.
Off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen has received maiden call-up for the national Test side after an eye-catching domestic season in which he finished with 19 wickets in four matches.
Sisanda Magala and Lizaad Williams have retained their spots in the national side for both limited-overs matches against West Indies and Ireland. Other uncapped selections include Kyle Verreynne, Keegan Petersen, Sarel Erwee and Marco Jansen.
???? West Indies have named an 18-man provisional squad for the T20I series against South Africa, Australia and Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/FMblKYAuTT
— ICC (@ICC) May 18, 2021
