Linda Zondi, the then chief selector of South Africa’s senior men’s national side, has revealed why he turned down the request for inclusion made by the great AB de Villiers prior to the 2019 ODI World Cup in the UK.
After shockingly taking retirement in early 2018, De Villiers made a u-turn on his decision and conveyed the same indirectly to Zondi via the then South African captain Faf du Plessis. However, the selection chief took a tough call and made no last-minute changes to the World Cup squad.
Now as he appeared before the committee of Social Justice and National-Building formed by Cricket South Africa, Zondi explained that he turned out De Villiers’ request because he felt it would’ve been “unethical” for him to drop any of the players in the squad to accommodate another player, who hadn’t been available for a whole year, even if that happens to be a legend like De Villiers.
Zondi also gave an account of his discussions with De Villiers much before he took his retirement back in 2018 and said he had done his best to try and make him agree to continue till the World Cup. But at the time, De Villiers remained firm with his decision to quit international cricket, feeling, as he had himself said, excessive fatigue and workload stress.
“When AB took a break [in 2017], he didn’t share the information with me. I contacted him and said I wasn’t happy with what you have done and he apologised. Then there was the World Cup, which was a massive story.,”
“The captain [Faf du Plessis] came to me and said AB would like to be included in the World Cup. I turned it down because AB had earlier come to me and said he wanted to retire and I told him [then] we need you in the World Cup in England.”
“If there are certain series you miss, we can work with that. I said I am happy to manage your time and you can retire after the World Cup. He said no, he wants to retire. Then, Faf came that AB wanted to return. I turned it down. I thought it was unethical to the players who were part of the squad,”
Zondi said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
The speculations around De Villiers’ retirement u-turn and a comeback have been doing the rounds since he announced his decision to quit. With him being only 34 and retiring a year before the World Cup, there were suggestions of a fall-out between the player and Cricket South Africa.
But while the CSA regime has been under scrutiny, De Villiers also is partly responsible for the air of contention and confusion behind his call. In the last two years, at various stages, the great cricketer has indicated multiple times that he wishes to make a comeback but has made no concrete move for the same.
Earlier this year, during the Indian leg of the IPL, De Villiers indicated that he would like to be part of South Africa’s squad for the T20 World Cup in October-November. But when Proteas announced their squad for the tours to West Indies and Ireland, it emerged that De Villiers has conveyed to the board that his retirement stance was final and will not change.
De Villiers had an indifferent UAE leg of IPL 2021 but is still one of the best batters around in the IPL. The 37-year-old would’ve been a real handful in Proteas’ quest to claim their maiden T20 World Cup crown.
