PSL 2019: AB de Villiers confirms his participation

The cricketing world was busy in mourning after dashing South African batsman AB de Villiers called it quits from international cricket a few months ago. But the 34-year-old was back to give his fans some good news in September. After Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise for which De Villiers has played for a long time now, confirmed his participation in the tournament in 2019, the man himself came up with the more pleasing news.

One of the cleanest hitters of the ball in modern cricket, De Villiers has over 20,000 runs in international cricket with 47 centuries. The Pretoria-born cricketer represented his country since 2004-05 and also led South Africa to the semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2015. He came up with a video early on September 7 to confirm his participation in Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2019 as well.

2019 will be different

In the video posted on Twitter, De Villiers said, “The Pakistan Super League has grown into one of the top T20 tournaments around the world. It has given Pakistanis much to cheer about. I have enjoyed watching some of the PSL games on television in recent years. But 2019 will be different. In 2019, I will be participating in the PSL. I certainly can’t wait and see you there.”

It’s time for @thePSLt20. So, there’s going to be a party in February?#ABaurPSL #psl2019 pic.twitter.com/WPWo1t9ABB

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) September 7, 2018

The video was also posted among others, by the official handle of PSL and retweeted by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s Twitter handle.

De Villiers, who has also been made a non-playing ambassador of the 2018-19 UAE T20X League to be played in December-January in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, is reportedly likely to captain Lahore Qalandars in the fourth edition of the PSL next year. In that case, he will replace former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum.

A veteran of 114 Tests, 228 ODIs and 78 T20Is, AB de Villiers’ last competitive cricket match was in the IPL this year when he scored 53 for the RCB against the Rajasthan Royals.

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