CAPE TOWN - Former Proteas captain AB de Villiers has stressed he is “desperate” to return to international cricket, but there remain many factors that are out of his control.
In an interview with SuperSport on Instagram Live, De Villiers maintained that he is in contact with Cricket South Africa (CSA) director of cricket Graeme Smith and Proteas coach Mark Boucher about his pending return.
De Villiers officially retired from all international cricket in 2018, but has been mulling a return to the Proteas for the ICC World T20 scheduled for November later this year in Australia. However, due to uncertainty surrounding the event actually still taking place due to Covid-19, De Villiers cannot commit that he will actually be seen in a Proteas shirt again.
"I would absolutely love to play [for the Proteas] but it's so unsure at the moment, where we're heading with cricket around the world," the 36-year-old said.
"I've spoken to Bouch and Smithy and all of them and the urge is there. I would desperately want to represent my country again.
"[But] I can't commit to that because I don't know where I'm headed. Am I going to be fit if [the T20 World Cup] happens in 2021? Am I still going to be in form?
Reports suggesting Cricket SA have asked me to lead the Proteas are just not true. It's hard to know what to believe these days. Crazy times. Stay safe everyone.
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) April 29, 2020
"If I do commit to something like that I'd like to think that I'm going to be in the best form of my life, so I can bat and score runs for my country.
"There's a lot of factors that I can't control at the moment, so I'm taking it one day at a time and, touch wood, everything will work out."