Shaun Pollock believes AB de Villiers might retire after England Test series

Former South African captain Shaun Pollock believes AB de Villiers might retire after the conclusion of ongoing Test series against England. Although De Villiers himself denied his retirement rumours during the first Test but he did mention that he wants to lessen the workload.

After the Proteas lost the third Test at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg, former South Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock told Sky Sports in an interview that he feels De Villiers, who replaced Hashim Amla as Proteas Test captain after the second Test, may call it a day from Tests to balance his workload.

Pollock said that De Villiers has greater profits Twenty20 format and he can get anything he wants there in terms of monetary benefits.

"I think the possibility [that De Villiers quits Tests] is very real as the fantastic T20 player he is means he can command any fee he wants all over the world. He has been in a successful unit but when the team's not doing so well it's not as much fun and you start to think about those other options.

"He has just had a little baby, too, and time with the family is something he will be looking forward to, so it is a big worry for South Africa."

The Indian cricket team replaced South Africa at the top of ICC Test team rankings after the Proteas were handed over home Test series defeat by the England team. Prior to this, they lost 3-0 in the away Test series in India where their batsmen failed miserably.

Talking on the same note, Pollock said: "I think it's in decline, there's no doubt about it. We used to go away and people would say to me: 'your side is a very settled Test unit', as we knew where we fitted in, who did what role and where we were going to get our performances from.

"At the moment we don't know that - having Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander missing is a huge blow bowling-wise, while we have also lost a lot of experience in the batting department.

"Confidence is not oozing out of the dressing room and that is difficult to turn around, particularly when you have a lot of inexperienced guys looking to fill other players' shoes. There is a lot of work to be done."

Pollock took 421 wickets and scored 3,781 runs in his 108 Tests he played for South Africa.