South Africa head coach Mark Boucher has explained why AB de Villiers chose not to come out of international retirement and feature for the Proteas at this year’s T20 World Cup.
De Villiers confirmed last month that he was in talks with Boucher over a return to the national team, three years after he called time on his South Africa career.
But Cricket South Africa confirmed on Tuesday that De Villiers had decided to ‘remain’ retired, and Boucher has now discussed the 37-year-old’s decision.
‘AB has his reasons, which I respect,’ Boucher told The Citizen. ‘Unfortunately he’s no longer in the mix.
‘I say unfortunately because I think we all agree that he’s still one of the best – if not the best – T20 players in world cricket.
‘But he alluded to being concerned about coming in ahead of other players who have been a part of the system. I don’t think it sat well with him, which I understand.
‘But as a coach I needed to try and get our best players, for the team and the environment. AB is an energy booster in any environment, but I respect his reasoning. It was worth a go, but now let’s move forward.’
De Villiers scored 8,765 runs in 114 Tests, 9,577 runs in 228 ODIs and 1,672 runs in 78 T20Is before retiring from international cricket in 2018.
Since then, he has thrived in a number of franchise tournaments across the world, most notably the Indian Premier League for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
De Villiers was one of the stars of the 2021 IPL before its suspension last month, scoring 207 runs in six innings at an average of 52 and a strike-rate of 164.
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from metro.co.uk
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