AB missed being on the park for South Africa

It has been almost two years since former South Africa captain AB de Villiers played Test match cricket for his nation. Since then, the Proteas have contested Test series’ against New Zealand (twice), Australia, Sri Lanka, England and Bangladesh. South Africa won all of those series with the exception of the away series against England. The right-handed batsman cited wear and tear in the international circuit behind his sudden decision to take a breather from red-ball cricket, prompting former South Africa players like Ashwell Prince and Herschelle Gibbs to criticise the Proteas cricketer.

Interesting article this..captain putting a player on a pedestal! Never thought I'd see this..anyway pic.twitter.com/F6u17j0sVD

— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) August 11, 2017

De Villiers however, defended his self-imposed absence, saying he needed a break from Test to spend some time with his family after traveling around the world for more than a decade playing for South Africa in different formats, and other T20 franchises.

Kallis achieved more than ab ever will but he kept on playing and never disrespected the team and the game.remember that

— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) August 11, 2017

“I needed a couple of months away with the family. I saw my second boy grow up which is really nice. (Newly appointed head coach) Ottis [Gibson] made contact. I had met him before he was announced as the coach. I always knew he was a great guy. He wanted to know where I was headed with my career. All I told him was I wanted to get back in the side as soon as possible. I enjoyed the first off-season I have had in 13 years. I got in the gym and got fit again, and worked on a few technical things in my game,” De Villiers told the media after South Africa beat Bangladesh by 104 runs in the second and penultimate ODI at Boland Park Wednesday to clinch the series 2-0.

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Also read: AB sings Bangladesh praise

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“Watched all the games the guys played. It felt like I never really left them but I did miss being on the park,” he said. De Villiers though has been a regular feature in the limited-over formats for South Africa for quite a long time now.

AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis are such good friends that they are also next to each other in the batting line up. #SScricket

— TweetGuru (@JustKholii_) January 2, 2016

However, despite his rich experience, he not so long ago lost his captaincy to long-time friend and team mate Faf du Plessis, who is now the Proteas skipper in all three formats. The 33-year old though, said there is no bad blood between him and Du Plessis as they go a long way back, even before they started their career for South Africa.

Explored the island of St. Kitts yesterday. Don't want this to be our last trip here, so @BIMTridents, we just have to qualify for the knockouts! What a beautiful spot

A post shared by AB de Villiers (@abdevilliers17) on Jul 5, 2016 at 8:44am PDT

“Faf and I have come a long way together, we speak the same kind of language and we know each other’s game well. I support him out there the way he supported me when I was captain,” said De Villiers. “I had a long run as a captain. I had some fantastic ups, and also quite a few lows in between. I just felt like it was enough. I wanted to enjoy the last few years of my career. I know what Faf is capable of as captain, and I think he’s going to become one of the best leaders we have had in this country. He could be the best. We’re going to give him all the support we can,” he concluded.