South Africa rejected AB de Villiers' offer to play in World Cup after batsman's retirement U-turn
Thursday 6 June 2019 15:13, UK
South Africa decided against including AB de Villiers in their World Cup squad after revealing the batsman offered to reverse his international retirement.
The Proteas have lost all three of their games at the tournament and it has since come to light De Villiers had made himself available for selection on the day they announced their preliminary squad in April.
Convenor of selectors Linda Zondi revealed: "For Faf du Plessis and Ottis Gibson to share AB's desire to be included in the squad on the day we announced our World Cup squad on April 18 was a shock to all of us.
"AB left a big vacuum when he retired, we had a year to find players at franchise level to fill the gap. We had players who put in the hard work, who put up their hands and deserved to be given the opportunity to go to the World Cup.
"The decision was based on principle; we had to be fair to the team, the selection panel, our franchise system and players."
De Villiers moved quickly in an attempt to quell discussion around his non-selection, taking to Twitter to encourage fans to get behind a team that must now - in all likelihood - win all of their remaining six matches to reach the last four.
Zondi said he has no regrets about rejecting De Villiers' offer to play, adding: "I pleaded with AB de Villiers not to retire in 2018.
"Although there was a perception that he was picking and choosing when to play which was not true I did give him the option to plan and monitor his season to get him to the World Cup fresh and in a good space.
"We made it clear that he would have to play during the home tours against Sri Lanka and Pakistan to be considered for selection, instead he signed to play in the Pakistan and Bangladesh Premier Leagues respectively. He turned down the offer and said he was at peace with his decision to retire."
Watch every ball of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup live on Sky Sports Cricket World Cup this summer.
