Shaun Pollock wants AB de Villiers back in whites

Former Proteas skipper Shaun Pollock has urged South Africa to get AB de Villiers back in the Test fold. The Test side has been struggling of late and is on the verge of their first series defeat in England after 2008. The bowlers have stood up to the task but the batsmen have failed to post big scores.

No Tests for de Villiers for 20 months

De Villiers hasn’t played in the longest format of the game since January 2016. He was sidelined due to an injury last year but decided to take time off from Test cricket so far this year to reassess his fitness and future aspirations. It is been said that the star batsman might quit Test cricket in a bid to prolong his limited overs cricket career.

With the team struggling in England, Pollock wants de Villiers to get playing red-ball cricket as tough home series against India and South Africa will challenge the young side. Pollock has stated that it doesn’t matter if he could only play these two series and then move on with the format.

Average performance by Proteas in England

At the end of day 3, England surged their lead to 360 runs, courtesy a whirlwind innings of 67* by Moeen Ali. The hosts have 2 wickets left and will like to stretch the lead beyond 400. Pollock also opined that South Africa needs to find a suitable partner for Dean Elgar at the top of the order as Heino Kuhn has struggled in his debut series for South Africa.

“The bowling line-up looks settled, they’ve got Keshav Maharaj who has come on in leaps and bounds and maybe even Dale Steyn could be back at some stage we would hope,” Pollock said on the Cricket Writers podcast.

“But I definitely think they’ve got to go down the route of trying to convince AB de Villiers, even if it is just for six months for those two big tours, that he needs to make himself available.

“Then, the next step would be to try and find someone consistent at the top of the order. I think those are the two big challenges for the South Africans.”

Prior to the tough series against India and Australia, South Africa host Bangladesh for a Test series which is a perfect opportunity for the Proteas to settle down to a combination before the strenuous tasks.

“So I think that us a bit of a challenge going forward. They’ve got Bangladesh coming up at home where they can maybe try and settle things down, but then they’ve two big tours, India at the end of the year and then Australia after that, those are massive tours.”

De Villiers, however, has all but called time on his Test career. He is expected to meet the CSA this month to map out his future as a South African cricketer. With the World Cup under two years to go, de Villiers would want to carry on in white-ball cricket in an attempt to have another shot at the World tiltle.