SA20: AB de Villiers feels concerned about keeping players inspired to play all formats

South African cricketing legend, AB de Villiers has expressed his concern over keeping players inspired to play in all three formats of the game. He feels that cricket governing bodies around the world need to hold talks with their players and manage their workloads accordingly.

Earlier, the 38-year-old shocked everyone with his retirement in 2018 and bid adieu to all forms of the game in 2021. He said that his cricketing career could have been managed better. He left the game to spend more time with family, something which has become a luxury for a modern day cricketer. With a packed international calendar and a variety of cricket leagues being conducted around the world, playing all three formats has become impossible without taking frequent breaks in between.

Recently de Villiers was asked about the need of picking formats and his take on the relentless scheduling, to which he replied, “That’s a tough question,” as quoted by The Hindu.

He further added, “Because I don’t want to be the guy to just say give up a format or two. And once again, it’s a global cricketing issue at the moment to keep the players inspired to play all formats of the game for their countries.”

Popularly known as Mr. 360, de Villiers believes the players’ careers could be extended if they are clear about their ambitions across formats. He also expects cricketing boards to communicate early to the players where they stand in the scheme of things.

He said, “But I do think there’s room with the various boards around the world to pinpoint players, to have community discussions and communication early on in players’ careers, to understand what they want to achieve, first of all, and secondly, where they fit in with regards to the cricket in their own country and to represent the country internationally.”

He further added, “But also to be happy to play leagues around the world and gain experience. It’s invaluable. We spoke about it earlier, players like SKY (Suryakumar Yadav), Dewald Brevis, and myself, the way we took our games to the next level, largely because of these leagues. So ultimately, that is what we want to achieve. If it’s not achievable.

And if there’s a clear sign that a player is maybe a bit weak in one format, or is maybe not as inspired to achieve milestones to go a long way in one or two formats, then yes, but that communication needs to happen.”

de Villiers also feels the communication could have been better between him and Cricket South Africa during his career. He said, “And I think during my career, communication could have been better from my side, but also from the Cricket South Africa side to have made sure that we planned accordingly. So it comes down to communication.” 

“I don’t think it is (break) ideal to be honest. So difficult to get the scheduling right and keep everyone happy. We want to see countries take each other on. It is the ultimate form of viewership but with all these leagues the excitement is there and it is financially healthy. It is very difficult for the ICC and everyone to make sure that the scheduling benefits everyone. I honestly don’t know what the answer is,” he added.

Former South African skipper also sees a lot of sense in BCCI’s stance of not allowing the Indian players to feature in overseas T20 leagues. He said, “I would love to see it happening very soon but you don’t see Indian players being released for leagues around the world. So I don’t know if that will ever change. And rightfully so. I mean, the BCCI has a very clear plan with the players, they want to win World Cups.

They want to make sure the players have the exposure they need and obviously there’s no league better than than the IPL. Once some of the leagues maybe knock on their door, you never know.” 

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