World Cup 2019: AB de Villiers claims he never demanded his selection in the South African squad

What’s the story?

Former South African skipper AB de Villiers tweeted today, claiming that he called Faf de Plessis to confirm his availability, but did not demand his selection in the South African team for ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. He also mentioned that he did not 'expect' to be included in the team.

In case you did not know

After South Africa was handed their third consecutive defeat in World Cup 2019, news of AB de Villiers willing to come out of retirement started circulating. Many fans slammed a ‘selfish’ tag on the cricketer, for trying to force his way into the team.

The heart of the matter

Legendary South African cricketer AB de Villiers retired from international cricket in May 2018 but continued to play in franchise-based T20 leagues. This did not go down well with many, and fans thought that Mr. 360° is only interested in making money.

In his tweet, de Villiers wrote “I announced my retirement from international cricket in May 2018 because I wanted to reduce my workload and spend more time with my wife and young sons. Some have insisted I was motivated purely by money. They are wrong.”

After the news of AB de Villiers’ plans to come out of retirement surfaced on the internet, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced that they rejected de Villiers’ plea as it would have been harsh on the young cricketers of the team.

pic.twitter.com/ahCQBPEo2X

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) July 12, 2019

The man who led the nation to World Cup semi-finals has been the subject of ridicule ever since, for trying to force his way into the team at the cost of the upcoming cricketers. But he has come clean and stated “I made absolutely no demands at all. I certainly did not try to force my way into the World Cup squad on the eve of the tournament, and did not expect to be included.”

What’s next?

The cricketer has claimed that the story was neither released by him nor by the current Proteas skipper, Faf de Plessis. He has also stated that tags like ‘arrogant’, ‘selfish’ and ‘indecisive’ are unfair. The 35-year-old has dropped a subtle hint by saying that “someone wanted to deflect criticism.” It will be interesting to see whether CSA comes up with a reply to his tweet.