South Africa: After speculations about AB De Villiers' return to International cricket, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced that the batsman won't be part of the South Africa squad in the upcoming T20 World Cup. De Villiers took retirement from international cricket in 2018 and doesn't look like getting back in the international squad any time soon.
“Discussions with AB de Villiers have concluded with the batsman deciding once and for all, that his retirement will remain final," read a social media statement by CSA.
Rumour was doing rounds when De Villiers said that he was in talks with Mark Boucher, the selection committee chairman of CSA on his return into international cricket.
“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’,” said De Villiers a month ago during a post-match presentation during IPL 2021.
De Villiers was also part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL. He scored 207 runs in seven IPL matches this season at an average of 51.75 which included two half-centuries. He took retirement from international cricket in 2018.
The recent form of the South African team hasn't been really good. They lost ODI and T20I series against Pakistan.
SA T20I squad for West Indies: Temba Bavuma (c), Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Sisanda Magala, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius