Hinting of a possible return of former South Africa batsman AB de Villiers in the international arena, Proteas head coach Mark Boucher has once again said that they can consider the right-handed batsman for the T20 World Cup provided he is in good form and makes himself available for the tournament, slated to be held in Australia in October-November this year.
Notably, De Villiers, who is hailed as one of the best players South Africa has ever produced, called time on his international career in March 2018. However, he has since been active in the franchise-based T20 tournaments around the world.
“If AB is in good form and he is raring to go and he makes himself available for the time we have asked him to be available; if he is the best man for the job, then he must go. It’s not about egos or anything like that, it’s about sending your best team to the World Cup to try and win that competition,” IANS quoted Boucher as saying via ESPNcricinfo.
“He’s a discussion in the media and in the public but he is no discussion for me. I have had chats with him and we will probably know pretty soon what’s going to happen with him. Like I said from day one when I took over, if we are going to a World Cup, I would like to have our best players there,” he added.
36-year-old de Villers has so far played 78 T20Is in which he has scored 1672 runs, averaging 26.12 with a strike rate of 135.16. He has 10 half-centuries to his name in the shortest format of the game.