AB de Villiers finally breaks silence on World Cup recall fiasco
AB de Villiers has taken to Twitter to finally clarify his stance on rumours which emerged recently that he was willing to come out of retirement from international cricket prior to the start of the World Cup. Reports had suggested that de Villiers had communicated his desire about returning to international cricket to skipper Faf du Plessis and other important figures of the team management, but was promptly informed that such a move could not be possible. The decision from de Villiers was last-ditch and he only informed the management 24-hours before South Africa were set to announce their 15-man squad for the World Cup.
The management believed that it would have been unfair on other players if de Villiers was indeed recalled to the side and thus rejected his offer. De Villiers had retired from international cricket in May 2018 and did not fulfil the basic criteria for selection, not having played domestic cricket or international cricket in the following months. After the reports came out, de Villiers sent out a cryptic tweet, while CSA released a big statement confirming the reports.
Now, de Villiers has released a strongly worded statement on the report on his Twitter account, claiming that he did not demand to be included in the World Cup squad and his approach was only casual. He also added that the story was not leaked by either him or Faf du Plessis and was done by someone who wanted to deflect criticism. He concluded saying that he would continue to focus on playing in the various T20 leagues around the world.
Here is how his statement read:
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) July 12, 2019
It is now fair to assume that the chapter of AB de Villiers in the book of South African cricket is well and truly over for good.
