I Would Love to Play 100-ball Competition in the UK: AB de Villiers

Jan 17, 2019 at 2:48 PM

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I Would Love to Play 100-ball Competition in the UK: AB de Villiers

Former South Africa National Cricket Team skipper and batsman AB de Villiers has expressed a delight to feature in the upcoming 100-ball competition in the United Kingdom (UK). The stalwart remarked the Proteas would love to participate in the latest shortest version of the game.

“I’m not set in my schedule at the moment but I would love to play in the UK. I’m sure with the tradition and the culture of cricket over there, it would be very well supported. I would love to be a part of it,” de Villiers told BBC World’s Stumped show.

In addition, the 100-ball competition is set to kick off in England in 2020. The 34-year Pretoria-born legendary batsman de Villiers has announced his retirement from top-flight cricket in May 2018.

Interestingly, the 100-ball format was proposed in April last year before being ratified in November 2018.

“I can’t see anything wrong with trying something different,” de Villiers said.

Earlier, the trial games of the 100-ball competition saw North and South teams wrestling against each other. In September 2018, the game was played at the Trent Bridge in Nottingham.

AB de Villiers bats for the change:

AB de Villiers, UK
Ever-reliant AB de Villiers played a remarkable role for the Proteas. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

In such a contrast, the 100-ball per side format has also received a criticism which further saw English cricketers including former skipper Michael Vaughan throwing the unconditional support behind brand new concept of 100-ball format.

Also, the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) has expressed apprehension over the concept which might hamper the professional cricket. However, de Villiers holds a different perception.

“There’s nothing wrong with experimenting with the format. It’s not a huge change, but it’s something different. It’s nice to experiment, and in a year or two we’ll see what happens,” de Villiers added.

AB de Villiers to fly Pakistan for PSL:

De Villiers has recently decided to play two Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches of the fourth edition at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

“I was reluctant to go a few years back, when we were all a bit worried, but I feel the time is right to go back there. I’m hoping to go there and have some fun and show the whole world that Pakistan is safe to travel to again,” de Villiers asserted.

It’s pertinent to mention that there hasn’t been much international cricket played since the attack on Sri Lankan team bus at Lahore’s Liberty Chowk. However, of late, the West Indies Cricket Team toured Pakistan in April 2018 after Zimbabwe visited Pakistan for the limited-overs series.

De Villiers has been vocal about the return of cricket to Pakistan.

“I felt that I had this opportunity to maybe make an impact to help international cricket return to Pakistan,” he maintained.

AB de Villiers on 2019 ICC World Cup:

AB de Villiers, South Africa vs India 2018, ODI series, finger injury
AB de Villiers is looking at franchise cricket. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Interestingly, while shedding the light on the upcoming 2019 ICC World Cup, de Villiers, who smashed fastest ODI hundred off 31 deliveries against Windies in 2015, asserted he is there to support his team and he doesn’t regret his retirement decision.

“I feel I’ve made the right decision to retire. If they do approach me – and I don’t think that will happen. We’ll have a conversation. And I’m pretty sure that I will be staying over here and supporting the team,” de Villiers concluded.

During his 14-year-long international stint, the wicketkeeper-batsman de Villiers represented South Africa in 228 One-day Internationals. He also played 114 Tests and 78 Twenty20 Internationals.

De Villiers scored runs at the average of over 50 in Test and ODI cricket respectively. However, he amassed 1672 runs at the average of 26.12 in the T20 format.

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