AB de Villiers doubtful for the Australia series

The South African skipper AB de Villiers might miss out on the upcoming series against Australia which starts from September 30. He had already missed the Test series against New Zealand and is not featuring in the match against Ireland due to an elbow injury sustained in August.

South Africa team manager Dr. Mohammed Moosajee told a media conference that de Villiers has subsequently seen an elbow specialist as he gets pain in his left elbow while playing certain shots.

“About six weeks ago he (de Villiers) was diagnosed with a left elbow injury. At the time, the recommendation was specifically to have a period of rest, physiotherapy, and aggressive rehabilitation. He has subsequently seen an elbow specialist, the area was infiltrated with cortisone and he has what we commonly refer to as an impingement syndrome, so when he plays certain cricket shots what normally happens is he gets excruciating pain in the left elbow. Sometimes, this does settle with the conservative approach of rest, rehab, and the cortisone infiltration, but unfortunately, in AB’s case it hasn’t been so and with that in mind we’ve given him an extended period of rest which is another week,” said Moosajee as quoted by Cricket.com.au.

He further added that they will re-assess his condition on Tuesday and if he can’t pass the fitness test, a date for surgery will be set which will see him being rested for six to eight weeks, which means he will miss out the Australian series.

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“We will re-assess on Tuesday when … a call will be made. Obviously, he needs to pass a fitness test, that elbow needs to stand up to the rigours of international cricket. If at the time, he does not come through a fitness test then a date for surgery will be set and if he does go for surgery then you are looking at a period of six to eight weeks rest. If he has surgery, then he’ll be out of the Test series (in Australia),” he said.

Moosajee also said that the injury has much to do with the kind of workload he had over the last one year or so. De Villiers played in different leagues all around the globe including IPL, CPL, etc. “The cricket calendar, unfortunately, has become more extended than it used to be,” he said.

“The fact that there have been some other tournaments like the IPL has added to the load, but I think we need to understand that having played more than 10 years of international cricket, there are going to be challenges where you’re going to have some form of injuries. And unfortunately AB’s just having that left elbow niggle that he hasn’t been able to shake off for the time being,” he added.

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Faf du Plessis will lead the side in the absence of De Villiers and Domingo says that it is an opportunity for somebody to make a play and do something big for the side. “It’s not ideal, but what can you do. It’s part of the game, we’ll assess him next week and hopefully he passes. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t. We’ve just got to move on, it’s difficult to replace a player of AB’s ability but it’s a great opportunity for somebody to make a play and do something massive for the team. There’s no use moaning about it, it is what it is,” Domingo concluded.