Reports: AB de Villiers to play for Middlesex in 2019 T20 Blast 

What's the story?

AB de Villiers has inked a deal with Middlesex County Cricket Club for the 2019 edition of the T20 Blast. According to Cricbuzz reports, the announcement will be made this week. The tournament in England is scheduled to take place between July and September.

In case you didn't know...

Last season was a disappointing one for Middlesex as they finished at the bottom of their group. They managed to snatch victory in just two out of their 14 matches. Since retiring from international cricket last year, de Villiers has been in robust touch in the shortest format of the game.

The former Proteas cricketer decided to hang up his boots last year in May. In his last assignment for the Proteas, he helped South Africa win a high-voltage Test series against Australia by a margin of 3-1. He amassed 421 runs at an average of 71.16.

The heart of the matter

While many cricket fans were found curious regarding his stint in franchise cricket, de Villiers made it clear that he will feature for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League.

He lit up the Bangladesh Premier League, smacking a 50-ball hundred in a chase against Dhaka Dynamites. The explosive batter played six games and came out victorious in each of them.

There were talks of him making a comeback to the national side, in order to play in the World Cup. In 2015, South Africa came close to lifting the cup under de Villiers' captaincy but they fell short and were eliminated in the semi-finals.

What's next?

The veteran has amassed more than 7300 runs from 272 matches across different franchises. And he has scored these runs at a staggering average of 36 in the shortest format.

Middlesex begin their campaign against Essex on July 18 at Lord's Cricket Ground.