Why South Africa were right to reject AB de Villiers

CSA rejected his offer to come out of retirement for the 2019 World Cup

The news of AB de Villiers retirement last May came across as unusual, with many seeing the 2019 World Cup as a potential swan-song for arguably South Africa’s greatest batsman. South Africa’s disastrous start to the tournament reflects the enormous hole he left upon retirement, and led to many questions about why he bowed out at the time he did.

However, it has now emerged that de Villiers made a last ditch effort to be in South Africa’s squad, informing CSA convenor of selectors Linda Zondi less than 24 hours before the squad was announced. The irony of the situation is that immediately following his retirement, de Villiers himself admitted:

‘It would not be right for me to pick and choose where, when and in what format I play for the Proteas.’

Yet here we are. Having declined to participate in home series in favour of T20 leagues, he appears to have made a last ditch attempt to pick and choose his game time for South Africa.

Of course, hindsight is a fantastic thing and many people are ruing the decision to leave him out the squad, but his selection would be wrong on so many levels. When de Villiers announced his retirement, he cited tiredness and time away from home as his main reasons, and not only has he continued to play in a wide variety of overseas T20 competitions, but also turned down the opportunity to put himself forward for the World Cup in the process.

Zondi outlined the conditions offered to de Villiers for World Cup selection, saying:

‘We made it clear that he would have to play during the home tours against Sri Lanka and Pakistan to be considered for selection, instead he signed to play in the Pakistan and Bangladesh Premier Leagues.’

If de Villiers was harbouring any ambition of playing this tournament, two home ODI series seems like minimum commitment when others were putting in the hard yards both in domestic competition and during the Pakistan and Sri Lanka series. In the year since de Villiers’ retirement, a variety of players have given their all to make it into the squad, and would be victims of a grave injustice if they were to lose their place on the day of the announcement, regardless of the quality of de Villiers.

By electing to play in T20 leagues over his country he chose the riches of franchise cricket over the World Cup, in a move branded ''putting finances over the country'' by Shoaib Akhtar, yet tried to have the best of both worlds by sneaking into the World Cup squad.

England have been in the centre of similar controversy prior to the World Cup, with the selection of Jofra Archer the main headline. While de Villiers is of course an internationally proven performer, Archer’s inclusion was subject to his performances against Ireland and Pakistan. At no point was he going to be selected without playing an ODI in the run up, as it would be a huge disrespect to the hard work of the squad in the past 18 months. Selection of de Villiers should be no different, with other players such as Rassie van der Dussen putting in the hard yards over the past year.

In addition, the South African domestic system has been subject of scrutiny in recent years as rafts of players have instead opted to sign Kolpak deals in England, including the likes of Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw and Duanne Olivier. Selecting de Villiers ahead of someone plying their trade in domestic cricket would send completely the wrong message as a clear disregard for domestic cricket, which de Villiers has not participated in since his retirement.

As tough as the decision seems, CSA undoubtedly made the right one. At no point has de Villiers put in the effort to justify his selection despite some relatively relaxed criteria, and in prioritising the Bangladesh and Pakistan premier leagues ahead of the World Cup illustrated where his heart truly lies.

With South Africa losing their first 3 games, the decision will continue to be discussed for some time, but the reality is that nobody should be bigger than the team, even AB de Villiers. CSA made a tough but correct decision that stuck to their core principles, and whether they like it or not, Proteas fans will have to accept it and get behind their team for their remaining games. The entire squad earned the right to play in this World Cup, and should not be overshadowed or disrespected by the news of de Villiers' rejection.