South Africa head coach Mark Boucher has hinted at the side's star former batsman AB de Villiers potential return to international colours. de Villiers, who is currently in India for the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League, had announced his international retirement in 2018.
Boucher has revealed that he had a conversation with de Villiers before the latter's departure to India for the IPL.
"I did chat to him before he went to the IPL. The conversation is still very much open. AB being the person he is, he wanted to perform very well at the IPL, to prove to himself and everyone else that he is still a very key figure in world cricket and could dominate at that level," Boucher said, according to Hindustan Times (which quoted South African website timeslive.co.za).
"I said to him: ‘go do your thing, and I’ll give you a shout towards the back end of the IPL.’ So that is where we are with him."
AB de Villiers made a strong start to 2021 IPL edition with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, playing a match-winning innings (48 off 27 deliveries) against defending champions Mumbai Indians. RCB have won both of their games in the tournament so far.
This was also de Villiers' first competitive cricket match since IPL 2020.
The explosive South African has appeared in 114 Tests, 228 ODIs, and 78 T20Is for the international team.
AB de Villiers' international comeback could be significant for South Africa, as India will host the T20 World Cup later this year. de Villiers' potential return will be a big boost for the South African side which has struggled in recent times in the limited-overs format.
Recently, South Africa had lost a home ODI series to Pakistan 2-1, and currently trails the four-match T20I series against the opposition with the same margin. The final match of the series will be played later today.
