South Africa should welcome AB de Villiers back with open arms

At the sidelines of the recently suspended IPL 2021, AB de Villiers made inarguably his most honest and clear admission of wanting to represent South Africa again and being keen to play the T20 World Cup in India later this year.

The great South Africa batsman confirmed imminent discussions on the matter with national head coach Mark Boucher. De Villiers, though, added modestly that he wouldn’t push for his case if the team management finds someone else a better fit.

“We are lined up to have a chat sometime during the IPL. But yes, we’ve been talking about it already. Last year, he (Boucher) asked me if I would be interested. And I said, ‘absolutely’. Come the end of the IPL, we will have a look at where we are at with regards to my form and my fitness,” AB de Villiers had told the press after taking Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to a victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on April 18.

“Also, the situation with his team – he’s got to look at his guys who have been performing well over the last while. If there’s no space for me, so be it. If I can slot in there, it will be fantastic if all those things fall in place. Waiting for [the chat with] Bouchy towards the end of the IPL, and we will then plan accordingly.”

Just ahead of the 2019 World Cup in the UK also, AB de Villiers had tried to make a comeback in the Proteas colours. However, his last-minute attempt was thwarted by the selectors and the team management as they felt it was too late for him to be included in the 15-man World Cup squad. A certain section also felt that it would have been unfair to the players who had worked hard to seal a World Cup spot after de Villiers had suddenly left the team high and dry after his announcement in 2018.

But with the new management led by Boucher being more open to his comeback since the beginning, De Villiers has gained in greater confidence and clarity on the matter. It reflected in his words after the KKR encounter, as he longer feels he will be judged if he expressed his undiminished desire and passion to play for South Africa again.

South Africa should welcome AB de Villiers back with open arms

The Proteas have been on an unprecedented decline across formats since AB de Villiers called it quits prematurely in May 2018. The naysayers have used that as an excuse for the comeback door to remain shut, with some claiming De Villiers left South Africa in deep water when they desperately needed him.

They don’t properly recognise how genuine a concern AB de Villiers was raising when he announced his retirement. Plagued by excessive workload and lack of family time, De Villiers, aged 34 at the time, looked to open up his busy calendar. He had, self-admittedly, reached a stage where he couldn’t anymore keep himself up and running for all three formats of the game.

It can be safely assumed that this concern would’ve been discussed with the Cricket South Africa (CSA) regime as well, but they chose to look past the issue and let the problem only aggravate in De Villiers’ head before he took the ultimate call. Had CSA been more accommodating of AB de Villiers’ future plans as he approached the back half of his career, things wouldn’t have regressed so badly.

It was a clear case of a board and the player not being on the same page, something that the BCCI and Sachin Tendulkar avoided by managing the latter’s workload extremely well in the three years leading into the 2011 World Cup. Tendulkar didn’t play quite a lot of India’s white-ball games in that phase and kept himself fit and fresh with the main aim in mind. The plan worked out very well in the end for both the player and the team.

AB de Villiers may not be as big as Sachin Tendulkar, but he had earned the right to be looked after well after piling on an excellent international record in a career spanning 14 years. South Africa would’ve been better served with De Villiers extended his time at the highest level, playing only the series and the formats he wants. And not break down trying to juggle through the games across Tests, ODIs and T20Is when he isn’t anymore feeling physically and mentally up for it.

There’s a fine example of James Anderson, whom England have preserved solely for Test matches after the 2015 ODI World Cup. Anderson has taken 234 Test wickets at 21.17 since being ousted from the limited-overs set-up. The selectors didn’t just aid Anderson’s longevity by taking the extra load off his shoulders but also ensured his absence isn’t exposing the less experienced quicks on the fringes with their master Test paceman going as strong as ever.

South Africa could’ve taken a leaf out of England’s book as AB de Villiers’ untimely exit has since laid bare issues with their domestic game, which has suffered from a massive talent exodus in the last four-five years.

In not a single IPL season since his international retirement has De Villiers’ form dwindled in any aspect. Just as explosive and consistent as ever, De Villiers remains in the pink of health with his batting at the age of 37.

The fact of the matter is that it’s not De Villiers who needs South Africa as much as South Africa need him. It shouldn’t even be up for debate whether they should recreate space for him, South Africa would do well to welcome their greatest willow-holder back with open arms.