AB de Villiers: I’d love to play the T20 World Cup

The retired South African stalwart says his IPL form will be a determining factor in his bid to make a comeback for South Africa.

AB de Villiers: “I’m just going to try and keep a low profile, try and play the best possible cricket that I can and then see what happens towards the end of the year.”

AB de Villiers has said he keen on coming out of retirement and playing for South Africa at the T20 World Cup later this year.

“I would love to. I’ve been talking to ‘Bouch’ (new South Africa head coach Mark Boucher), (new director of cricket) Graeme Smith and (captain) Faf [du Plessis] back home, we’re all keen to make it happen. It’s a long way away still, and plenty can happen — there’s the IPL coming up, I’ve still got to be in form at that time. So I’m thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping that everything will work out,” de Villiers, who retired from all international cricket last year, told cricket.com.au .

De Villiers is currently playing the Big Bash League, a T20 competition in Australia.

‘Not a guarantee’

De Villiers, nonetheless, is keeping a check on his expectations. “It’s not a guarantee, once again. I don’t want to disappoint myself or other people, so for now I’m just going to try and keep a low profile, try and play the best possible cricket that I can and then see what happens towards the end of the year,” he said.

De Villiers had attempted at making a comeback for the World Cup in 2019, but his proposal was shot down by Cricket South Africa. “There are a lot of players [involved with CSA] who I used to play with. Guys who understand the game, leaders of the team for many years,” he said of the present dispensation.

‘Easier to communicate’

“So it’s much easier to communicate than what it used to be in the past. They understand what players go through — especially players that have played for 15 years internationally. It doesn’t mean that everything is going to be sunshine and roses, but it’s definitely a lot easier and it feels comfortable, the language that’s being used and just the feel that everyone has at the moment in South Africa about the cricket,” he added.