Brisbane Heat sign AB de Villiers for second half of BBL 2019-20

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AB de Villiers will finally grace the Big Bash League in the upcoming season as Brisbane Heat signed the former South Africa captain for the second half of the upcoming season. The Protea is set to be the replacement for Brendon McCullum, who retired from T20 leagues earlier this year.

De Villiers, who hyped up a stint in Australia before cooling off, in the end, couldn't stay away from the lure of playing at the Gabba for the Heats.

"You go through moments after retirement when you're really keen to play, then you just want to be at home. It's really difficult to balance that out. Time spent at home and time away, so I'm very selective of where I play at the moment, and the body is getting a bit older so I can't play too much," de Villiers said.

"I like to be at home over the Christmas and New year period, but I couldn't say no to coming to Brisbane and joining in on the fun. It's one of the best tournaments around and I've been following it for a while now. From what I've heard from other players who have played there, it's just all positives. The standard of cricket is good, and they get big crowds.

De Villiers also praised the franchise and said it always appealed to him the more.

"I must also say the Brisbane Heat have always stood out to me. They play the kind of cricket that I want to play - it's quite aggressive and they go after the attack. And the Gabba is a beautiful cricket ground. It's got a great wicket and games are always of a high quality," de Villiers said.

The 35-year-old also revealed that Heat's coach Darren Lehmann had a part to play behind him choosing Brisbane.

"I was in close contact with Darren over email and that was a big part of the reason why I am coming over (to the BBL). "He certainly pushed me over the edge. He's a great guy and I am sure we will get to know each other well over the tournament.

"I've always had a lot of respect for the way he played his game and the way he handled everything when he was with the Aussie team, and I am sure I can learn a bit from him with my batting," de Villiers said.

AB will be the star attraction at the Gabba with a strike-rate of 150 in T20 cricket around the world. Not only that, De Villiers has also smashed four T20 hundreds and also had a good IPL 2019 season with 442 runs in 13 matches with a strike-rate of 154.