The decision taken by AB De Villiers is an incredibly bold one, to say the least. After months of confrontations with the board officials and endless uncertainty, the South African batting great finally spoke about his decision in a bid to prolong his international career. With immediate effect, de Villiers has quit ODI captaincy and shall be available for South Africa in all three forms of the game.
More than him quitting captaincy, this news should be regarded for the fact that de Villiers has made himself available for the side in all formats. Though his ODI numbers may outshine his Test credentials, the fact remains de Villiers is as big an asset in Tests, as he is in ODI’s. Without him, the Proteas batting struggled miserably in England, as the absence of a steady middle order batsman was evident throughout the English summer.
The home Tests against Bangladesh will in all probability be de Villiers’ comeback series in the longest form of the game. Considering South Africa has two enormous challenges at home coming up, in the form of India and Australia, having the veteran back in the scheme of things for Tests, was just the need of the hour.
Now that he had bid adieu to captaincy, below, we have a look at the five highs and lows for South Africa, under the leadership of AB de Villiers.