"Reports suggesting Cricket SA have asked me to lead SA are just not true." - AB de Villiers
On Wednesday, social media was engulfed with the tittle-tattle about AB de Villiers returning back to the Proteas setup as captain. However, the ace batsman on his twitter account repudiated the claims of being approached by Cricket South Africa (CSA) to lead the side once again.
"Reports suggesting Cricket SA have asked me to lead the Proteas are just not true. It's hard to know what to believe these days. Crazy times. Stay safe everyone." AB de Villiers tweeted.
Reports suggesting Cricket SA have asked me to lead the Proteas are just not true. It's hard to know what to believe these days. Crazy times. Stay safe everyone.
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) April 29, 2020
Along with AB de Villiers, Graeme Smith, Director of Cricket of CSA, took to his Twitter handle to rebut the false reports.
"Sorry, this is absolute #FakeNews." - Smith tweeted.
Sorry this is absolute #FakeNews https://t.co/zaasJprRGf
— Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49) April 29, 2020
In May 2018, AB de Villiers decided to call it quits from all forms of the International career and began to ply his trade in the various T20 leagues across the globe.
Lately, AB de Villiers was vocal about returning back to the international fold, but also expressed that he must be fully equipped to cement a spot in the South African limited-overs squad.
"The most important thing to me is that I have got to be in top form and I have got to be better than the player next to me. If I feel I deserve my spot in the side, it becomes much easier for me to feel that I should be part of the playing XI," the batsman added.
With a lack of match practice, AB de Villiers is still sceptical about his return to the International setting.
"I have not been part of the Proteas for a while and I feel that it's important for myself and for other people to see that I am still good enough to be there," AB quoted as saying.
The 13th edition of the IPL which was originally slated to commence on 29th March has been suspended indefinitely due to the growing concern of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mark Boucher, the newly named South African head coach, said that AB de Villiers would only be available for the T20 World Cup selection if he proves his mettle in the upcoming T20 assignments. The IPL could possibly be his gateway for returning back to the South Africa squad.
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