AB de Villers had planned to retire from Tests much earlier, reveals Jonty Rhodes

South African superstar AB de Villiers is currently going through his temporary break from Test cricket. The flamboyant batsman did not feature in the recently concluded 4 match Test series against England. South Africa were crushed by the hosts in a 3-1 defeat in a series which marked Joe Root’s captaincy debut. With Faf du Plessis already stating that he does not see De Villiers returning to Test cricket again, it is high time for the South Africans to cope up with life without the ‘Superman’.

However, Ab de Villiers had clearly stated that he is on a break from the Test format which is temporary. He also ruled out rumours regarding a Test retirement which was spreading in the media. The right handed genius also highlighted that the reason behind the same is that he wants to spend time with his family. According to ABD his primary focus is on the limited over formats which include One Day Internationals and the T20s. De Villiers intends to keep himself fit and available for the 2019 ICC World Cup.

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Former Protea international Jonty Rhodes had his say on the matter. Rhodes, who is still the best fielder the cricketing world has ever seen, pointed out that De Villiers had intended to retire from the Test format a while ago. it was Cricket South Africa who insisted the incredible athlete to hang on. According to Rhodes, De Villiers sought an opinion from different individuals before 2016 about his future in the longest format of the game. Rhodes added that the board has a misconception that the players sacrifice their national commitments in order to earn money by participating in the lucrative T20 leagues.