AB de Villiers backs 100-ball cricket, clears air on his international return

What's the story?

Former South African stalwart, AB de Villiers on Wednesday expressed his interest in playing the latest 100-ball competition that was introduced in England last year.

The right-handed batsman said that he would "love to be part" of this new format when it gets underway in the UK in 2020. Meanwhile, he also cleared the air over his return to international cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

"I can't see anything wrong with trying something different," De Villiers told BBC while referring to the 100-ball format.

"I'm not set in my schedule at the moment but I would love to play in the UK," he added.

In case you didn't know...

After serving the Proteas for over 14 long years, de Villiers retired from International cricket in May last year. His retirement came as a surprise to the cricket world, as the 34-year-old did not seem to be running out of age or fitness.

Meanwhile, the 100-ball cricket format was proposed by the England Cricket Board (ECB) and is set to be launched in 2020.

The heart of the matter

AB recently confirmed his entry to the fourth edition of Pakistan Super League (PSL), which begins from February 19. Pertinently, the legendary cricketer has backed the new 100-ball format, saying there is nothing wrong in experimenting with new things.

"I'm sure with the tradition and the culture of cricket over there, it would be very well supported. I would love to be a part of it.

It's not a huge change, but it's something different. It's nice to experiment, and in a year or two we'll see what happens." he said.

International return in the 2019 World Cup

There have been talks going on around that the wicket-keeper batsman might make an international return in the forthcoming World Cup. De Villiers, however, said that he's not quite sure about it,

"I feel I've made the right decision to retire.

"If they do approach me — and I don't think that will happen — we'll have a conversation and I'm pretty sure that I will be staying over here and supporting the team," he confirmed.