AB de Villiers made an offer to come back to his team’s side for the World Cup but was turned down by the management. Apparently, one day before the team was to be selected, the batsman approached South Africa's captain Faf du Plessis, head coach Ottis Gibson and convenor of selectors Linda Zondi to reverse his retirement decision. But this was not possible and it is suggested that the request was not even considered.

The reason for the management’s decision is de Villiers’ retirement in May 2018 making him unfit for the selection criteria. Also, it would not be fair to other players such as Rassie van der Dussen who have been performing well. Following the loss of the team in all three matches, South Africa has been placed in a delicate situation most probably needing to win all of their remaining 6 matches. Steyn is also out of the side due to a shoulder injury. Whether the squad is nervous or not, fans have begun to ask for an emergency recall for de Villiers whose 360-degree shots may turn around the situation for the team.

Known as the Superman, de Villiers had retired last year saying: “For me, in green and gold, it must be everything or nothing. I will always be grateful to my team-mates, the coaches and the staff of Cricket South Africa for their support through all these years.” He also said that he was “tired and running out of gas.”

It appears as if the thought of the World Cup and playing for his country has re-energized the batsman who dropped some hints during the IPL: “I was keen to play in the World Cup, but I left, I retired. It was a very sensitive situation. For the last three years of my career, I was labeled as a guy who is picking and choosing when I was playing and when not. So I got quite a lot of criticism from back home, which also played a role in me retiring. And it was difficult for me to then go 'Hey, but I'll still play the World Cup'. It's that picking and choosing thing again, and it's quite arrogant to do something like that. But as they say, you can't have your bread buttered on both sides.”

Well, we’re not so sure about that, but we know we would have liked to see ABD choose this tournament, see him don his green and gold uniform and see the ball soar over the stands.