AB de Villiers out of Bangladesh ODI series

de Villiers was penalised for slow over-rate

AB de Villiers will not be playing the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh, ESPNcricinfo confirmed. Apart from the ODI series, he would also miss the Tests, as he had asked for paternity leave.

AB was given a one-match suspension during the World Cup. In March, in the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand, South Africa maintained a slow over-rate. Moreover, this was not the first offence. In November 2014 against Australia, de Villiers was guilty of the same offence.

In light of this, he was awarded a one-match ban. Due to this, he had to miss the first ODI against Bangladesh on July 10 and hence the management decided to release him early. Hashim Amla will be leading the team in the ODIs now.

“AB's presence and contributions will be missed but we have a hectic playing schedule this season and we felt this would be a great opportunity to develop the next tier of batters during this series, like we are doing with our bowlers," coach Russell Domingo said, as reported by ESPNcricinfo. "We would also like to give him the peace of mind of being close to his wife with the imminent birth of his first-born child."