AB de Villiers withdraws from PSL 2020 draft

Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers played in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) last year and a lot of excitement gathered over his participation. The dashing batsman, who quit international cricket last year but continues to play in franchise cricket, represented Lahore Qalandars in seven games in which he scored 218 runs at an average of over 54. However, the 35-year-old picked a back injury during the tournament and did not play in the last leg which was played in Pakistan.

Now, De Villiers has withdrawn his name from the next season’s draft of the PSL and he has said that though he will travel to the country, he will not play because of a back problem. In 2020, the entire PSL tournament will be played in Pakistan, unlike in the previous years when it was mostly or fully played in the UAE.

De Villiers is currently playing for Tshwane Spartans in the Mzansi Super League (MSL) at home where he was supposed to lead Durban Heat on Saturday but the match got abandoned because of rain. He is next set to appear in the Big Bash League in Australia where he will represent Brisbane Heat. He will miss the first few weeks of the tournament.

One of the best batsmen of this generation, De Villiers has played in 295 T20s till date in which he has made over 8,000 runs at a strike rate of almost 150. Internationally, AB has made over 20,000 runs with 47 hundreds. South Africa paid the price of his absence in the team in the World Cup this year as their batting was exposed.

Is AB de Villiers avoiding PSL because it will be played in Pakistan?

Some quarters suspected that De Villiers’ absence in the PSL could be because of the fact that the entire PSL will be played in Pakistan this year. More foreign players are expected to pull out of the 2020 season as Pakistan is not preferred as a nation by international cricketers because of security concerns.

Recently, a number of Sri Lankan players withdrew from their national side that toured Pakistan yet the depleted side went on to beat the home team 3-0 in T20Is.

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