‘It was unethical to the players in the squad’ – Former South Africa chief selector reveals why AB de Villiers didn’t play the 2019 World Cup

Former South Africa chief selector Linda Zondi has revealed the reasons behind AB de Villiers not taking part in the 2019 World Cup in England and Wales. Back in May 2018, De Villiers retired from international cricket, but continued playing franchise cricket around the world. Thereafter, rumours of him making a comeback did the rounds, but nothing substantial came to the fore.

Zondi said that despite his repeated requests to De Villiers to postpone his retirement after the World Cup, the latter didn’t budge. Later, the Pretoria-born showed his keenness to play the mega event in 2019. But as per Zondi, it would been unfair on the team members if the retired batter was included in the squad.

Zondi was also surprised after De Villiers refrained from sharing with him the reason behind taking a prolonged break from Test cricket back in 2017.

Zondi opines on AB de Villiers

“When AB took a break [in 2017], he didn’t share the information with me. I contacted him and said I wasn’t happy with what you have done and he apologized,” Zondi told ESPNcricinfo.

“Then there was the World Cup, which was a massive story. The captain [Faf du Plessis] came to me and said AB would like to be included in the World Cup. I turned it down because AB had earlier come to me and said he wanted to retire and I told him [then] we need you in the World Cup in England,” he stated.

“If there are certain series you miss, we can work with that. I said I am happy to manage your time and you can retire after the World Cup. He said no, he wants to retire. Then, Faf came that AB wanted to return. I turned it down. I thought it was unethical to the players who were part of the squad,” Zondi added.

South Africa, led by Du Plessis, had a disastrous campaign in 2019 as they failed to qualify for the semis. As far as De Villiers is concerned, he recently played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second-leg of the 2021 IPL in the UAE. The veteran still holds the record for the fastest century in international cricket that he accomplished against the West Indies in 2015.