AB de Villiers set to retire from Test cricket

Bye bye AB?

What’s the story?

AB de Villiers, the former captain of the South African Test team is believed to have informed the CSA that he will be hanging up his shoes in the longest format of the game last year but was persuaded to stay on for an extra year. 

However, it has now been revealed that De Villiers is contemplating Test retirement for the second time, and is unlikely to make a return to the longest format after being out of the game for a year. It is also not clear whether the CSA will try to convince him against to return to Test cricket. 

In case you didn’t know…

AB de Villiers began playing Test cricket in 2004 and has played 106 Tests for his country, during which time he has scored 8074 runs, courtesy of 21 centuries at an average of 52.00. He also played as a wicketkeeper in a number of those games.

The talismanic batsman played his last Test against England in early 2016, after which injuries kept him out of the game. Towards the end of last year, however, he made his return to only the shorter formats, asking the CSA for time out of the longest format until the end of the England series.

The details

It was reported that De Villiers would sit down with the CSA officials in August to decide his future, as he has been in poor touch. His ambition to extend his career has been met with injuries and his comments in the press were not well received by some.

There have been numerous calls to relieve him of the ODI captaincy (he stepped down as Test captain during the Australia Tests in November, while recuperating from injury) but the idea of his retiring from Tests comes as a surprise. The 33-year-old has made it clear that his main goal was to shepherd his team to success at the 2019 Cricket World Cup, and many feel that the only way to do this is to hang up the whites.

What’s next?

The RCB man was meant to appear in the Test series against Bangladesh in what will be an extended home season for South Africa, including a series against India. The team has played without the experience of De Villiers for a while now, and it has exposed gaps in South Africa’s middle order.

The number five and six spots in their batting has been an area of concern for the Proteas, and De Villiers’ abilities with the willow have been missed, despite South Africa’s success sans their former captain and arguably, their best batsman.

Author’s take

De Villiers’ move on the part of the purists might look as setting a terrible precedent for international players, prioritising the shorter formats above what is ideally the highest pursuit in cricket: Tests. However, ABD (as he is fondly known) had made it clear that it was his biggest goal to win the World Cup and with the 2019 edition being likely the last one he can play, he has had to make a compromise.

Furthermore, while one respects De Villiers’ commitment to leading the limited overs’ team in the 2019 World Cup, it feels like his captaincy has been somewhat misguided in recent times, and that Faf du Plessis’ captaincy has been far superior.

AB has seemed out of sorts and perhaps focusing on the shorter formats will help him, but the evidence of that cannot be seen on this tour of England, where he has seemed out of his depth in the Champions Trophy as well as both the limited overs series against England.

Whatever it is, one hopes that De Villiers figures out what is best for him and South African cricket.