South African skipper AB de Villiers to miss ODI series against Bangladesh on paternity leave

South African skipper AB de Villiers to miss ODI series against Bangladesh on paternity leave: AB de Villiers who was set to miss the fist ODI of the series against Bangladesh due to a 1 ODI ban imposed on him for maintaining a slow over rate against New Zealand in the semi-final match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, will now not participate in any of the limited overs games and the tests ahead in the Bangladesh tour.

AB had asked the South African team management for a paternity leave since his wife is going to deliver their first child. He was earlier going to miss the test due to his leave, but since the slow over rate offence against New Zealand in the world cup was De Villiers second offence in the year and thus made him liable for a one match suspension, the CSA decided to extend his leave and let him off the squad for the remaining two ODIs as well.

South Africa’s coach Russell Domingo was quoted by cricket.co.za saying, “AB’s presence and contributions will be missed but we have a hectic playing schedule this season and we felt this would be a great opportunity to develop the next tier of batters during this series, like we are doing with our bowlers,”

“We would also like to give him the peace of mind of being close to his wife with the imminent birth of his first-born child.”

Since AB who is the regular ODI skipper for South Africa will not be available vice-captain Hashim Amla will lead the team against Bangladesh.

Russell also made an announcement on behalf of CSA selectors that leg-spinner Eddie Leie, who had an impressive debut in the 2^nd T20I against Bangladesh, has been retained in the ODI squad. He said, “We’d like to keep Eddie on for the ODI series as an opportunity for him to get exposed to the environment and to integrate him into the squad. It will be good for him to spend time with the coaches and to get a taste of what international cricket is about. He hasn’t officially been added to the squad but will take valuable learning from being around this group of players”