Uncertainity looms over AB de Villiers' future in Tests

What’s the story?

South African batsman AB de Villiers' Test future has come back into the limelight after their captain Faf du Plessis and coach Russell Domingo hinted that the former captain should not take his place in the team for granted when he makes a comeback from an elbow injury.

Domingo admitted that this is the right time for de Villiers to sit down, think and take a call about his future in the longer format. Du Plessis too wasn’t optimistic about his predecessor’s future in the whites.

“We need to sit down with him and plan his future. AB has got to make that decision, I can't decide on whether he plays or not. When I say that, I mean AB has got to make the decision about whether he is available and the selectors have got to make the decision whether he plays. He has obviously got to make some decision about his future in cricket," Domingo said.

Du Plessis said, “ I'm not sure how AB will feel in terms of Test cricket so we will have to see. He hasn't played for a while. The plan was for him to play in this series and then the one-dayers start, but now we will see what AB's plans are - whether he wants to play”

In case you didn’t know...

AB de Villiers was nursing an elbow injury which he sustained during the 2016 Caribbean Premier League and missed South Africa’s last three Test series. In the meantime, Faf du Plessis led the team and was quite successful in doing so as he won all the three series including a 3-0 whitewash against Sri Lanka.

Du Plessis was impressive with the captaincy hat on and de Villiers rightly stepped down from the role in the longer formats to allow his long-time buddy take over the leadership full-time.

The heart of the matter

Now that AB de Villiers is all set to return from the injury to lead South Africa in the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka later this month, there are a lot of speculations about his future in the whites.

In his absence, Domingo was firm on his stance that the right-hander will return to the playing XI in the Tests as someone will make way for him when he comes back. With Du Plessis assured of his place as the skipper and Duminy flourishing at no.4, it will come down to Temba Bavuma to make way for the returning De Villiers.

But, the convener of selectors Linda Zondi has confirmed that Bavuma will be retained for the team’s next Test assignment and this will make life difficult for De Villiers when he comes back from the injury.

What next?

A Cricket South Africa (CSA) official confirmed that de Villiers's recovery remains on track and as expected, he might make his International return during the ODI series against Sri Lanka.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman will play a 50-over match for Northerns on January 22 to prove his fitness. If things go well, he could even play the third T20I against Sri Lanka at Newlands, Capetown before the start of the ODIs.

Sportskeeda’s take

AB de Villiers has already revealed his desire to call it a day in the longer formats to concentrate on ODIs and T20Is. Now that his place in the XI is under threat, it won’t be a surprise if he had already played his last Test for his country. Irrespective of what pans out, De Villiers will continue playing the limited-over formats.