Legendary South African batter AB de Villiers has teased a potential return to the cricket field, albeit not in the Indian Premier League or the international cricket. De Villiers’ comments came during a recent interview with Melinda Farrell, where he also talked about the SA20 league, the franchise T20 league currently taking place in South Africa.
AB de Villiers played for South Africa from 2004-18 and emerged as the second-highest run-scorer for the country across all formats. He amassed 20,014 runs in 420 games at an average of 48.11, 47 centuries and 109 fifties. One of his finest knocks came in the 2015 World Cup, where he smashed 162* off 66 balls against West Indies.
Besides, De Villiers was the most popular overseas player in the Indian Premier League during his stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He garnered 5,162 runs in 184 games at an average of 39.70 and a strike rate of 151.68, with three centuries and 40 fifties.
The fans often hailed him as ‘Mr. 360’ due to his ability to score runs all around the park. His last competitive appearance came in the IPL 2021 Eliminator, which saw RCB lose to Kolkata Knight Riders.
In the interview, AB de Villiers expressed his intention to return to the cricket field, which was largely fueled by the pressure from his children.
“I might still play cricket one day,” de Villiers teased while speaking to Melinda Farrell. “No confirmation whatsoever, but I’m starting to feel it. My kids are putting me under a bit of pressure, and I feel like I could go to the nets with them. if I enjoy it, maybe I’ll walk out and go and play a little bit of casual cricket somewhere again and not professional IPL stuff or SA tours.”
De Villiers took retirement after experiencing blurry vision in one of his eyes, which was caused by the kick from his son. However, the 40-year-old revealed that his eye has now recovered and he might make a cricket comeback.
“Who knows? But we’ll see. I’m gonna try it again and see if this eye is still working. It’s a bit blurry, but this (the right one) is the dominant one, and it’s working fine. So I’m doing it for my kids and see if I can go out there and enjoy cricket again,” he added.
AB de Villiers wants more Indian players in SA20
Earlier this month, AB de Villiers wished to have more Indian players participating in the SA20. The third season of South Africa’s premier franchise T20 tournament is currently taking place across six venues in South Africa. Interestingly, former keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik became the first Indian player to participate in the league.
De Villiers requested the BCCI to allow more players from the country to join the SA20, which will help in the growth of the league.
“I would love to see more Indian players involved. We know Dinesh Karthik will be here this year, which is fantastic, and it’s great for the tournament. Hopefully, the BCCI will allow us to get more Indian players in the future to come and join the fun of SA20,” AB de Villiers said during a media interaction.
Interestingly, AB de Villiers has been the official brand ambassador since the second season of SA20.
