Cricket South Africa: AB de Villiers not an option for the World Cup
Cricket South Africa National Selection Panel convenor, Linda Zondi, has confirmed that AB de Villiers made himself available for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, but that it could not be seriously considered.
Zondi released a statement on Thursday morning confirming reports that he was approached in April about the desire by De Villiers, a former Proteas captain and star batsman, to once again return to the national squad.
This was a day before the announcement of the team to be sent to the World Cup.
Zondi says in the statement the request could not seriously be considered because De Villiers had not played the necessary number of games for South Africa in the year leading to the World Cup.
De Villiers announced his retirement in 2018.
Here is the full text of the statement by Zondi:
De Villiers responded to the story on his social media on Thursday morning.
He sent this Tweet:
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
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) June 6, 2019
Meanwhile, the Proteas are facing an uphill battle after losing all three of their pool games so far.
Their next game is against the West Indies on Monday.