Mark Boucher, South Africa coach has explained the reason behind AB de Villiers’ decision to stay retired from international cricket.
Fans of AB de Villiers will feel disappointed as Cricket South Africa confirmed that the former South Africa captain would be sticking to his decision to stay retired.
Mark Boucher Agrees That AB De Villiers Is Still One Of The Best T20 Players But Respects His Decision To Stay Retired
Having announced his retirement from international cricket in 2018, speculation about AB de Villiers making an international return for the T20 World Cup later this year has been doing the rounds. In fact, SA coach Mark Boucher had hinted several times in the past that he could be in the mix for South Africa for the ICC event.
However, a day after CSA broke the news that AB de Villiers would in fact remain retired, Mark Boucher has explained the reason behind the decision. Acknowledging that the veteran batsman is still probably the best T20 player in the world, Mark Boucher called the development unfortunate but understood where AB de Villiers is coming from.
“AB has his reasons, which I respect. Unfortunately, he’s no longer in the mix. I say unfortunately because I think we all agree that he’s still one of the best – if not the best – T20 players in world cricket,” Boucher told The Citizen.
“But he alluded to being concerned about coming in ahead of other players who have been a part of the system. I don’t think it sat well with him, which I understand.”
It was during the 2019 World Cup that the idea of AB de Villiers’ potential return first floated. In a staggering revelation, former SA captain Faf du Plessis had announced that AB de Villiers had offered to come out of retirement but his request was turned down keeping the hard work of other players in mind.
Mark Boucher Respects AB De Villiers Decision To Stay Retired
South Africa performed awfully in the 2019 World Cup, becoming the second team after Afghanistan to be knocked out. With a fresh World Cup awaiting albeit in a T20 format, Mark Boucher feels it is best everyone moved on from the AB de Villiers saga.
“As a coach I needed to try and get our best players, for the team and the environment. AB is an energy booster in any environment, but I respect his reasoning. It was worth a go, but now let’s move forward,” Boucher pointed out.
AB de Villiers has time and again played a key role for Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) where he has demolished the best bowlers in the tournament with his entertaining knocks. Even in IPL 2021, he scored 207 runs in 7 matches at an impressive average of 51.75.
AB De Villiers has played 114 Tests scoring 8765 runs averaging 50.66 and 228 ODIs scoring 9577 runs averaging 53.5. He also featured in 78 T20Is where he averaged a modest 26.12. In 176 IPL matches, he has 5056 runs averaging 40.77 and is 6th among the leading run-scorers in IPL history.