South Africa needs to prepare to look ahead without AB in Tests: Faf du Plessis
South Africa recently lost the Test, ODI and T20I series against England. They also crashed out of the Champions Trophy in a disappointing manner.
Amid all the happenings, South African legendary batsman AB de Villiers had informed Faf du Plessis that he is not keen on playing Test cricket again. The South African team had a torrid time touring England recently, coming out with a lackluster performance, with only one batsman scoring a century in the last seven Test matches. This particular issue has made the ABD come back calls a lot stronger.
Comeback not on the cards
Du Plessis, on reaching South Africa, spoke at the Cape Town international airport, rubbed off all the questions regarding AB de Villers’ come back by saying that the veteran is not at all interested in making a comeback.
“The last time I spoke to him, he wasn’t keen to play yet again,” Du Plessis said. “So from my point of view, I’m not expecting him to come back. Whether we win or lose people always want AB to play because he is the best player in the team.”
“But we’ve played a year and a half without him. I hope that he comes back and plays, but I’m not expecting him to and I’m preparing to look ahead without him. I need to try and get it out there that people must expect that it’s probably not going to happen. We don’t want to lie about it. If he’s not coming back then he’s not coming back, but I can’t make that decision for AB.”
Deserves the family time
Faf also spoke about AB’s intent behind sticking to his decision and not make a return in whites by saying that he has traveled a lot over the years and he deserves to take a call on his future plans.
“AB has earned the right to do whatever he wants to,” said the Test skipper. “He’s played 100 Tests, he’s played away from home from 12 years. He’s done everything he could possibly achieve apart from winning the World Cup. He just wants to spend more time with his family. That’s AB’s only reason.”
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