One of the most heated debates, when the World Cup started, was AB de Villiers’ offer to return to his national side, South Africa. While one section of fans wanted de Villiers to come back, another section said that it was not fair that he make such requests after retirement. Many thought that he had retired to make more money and that now he couldn’t resist his temptation to play in the tournament. The batsman has now opened up about the whole issue.

In a tweet, de Villiers said that “I continue to be asked to comment on the disclosure, and distortion, of a private conversation that took place just before the squad was announced and, for the benefit of anyone who may have felt let down, would like to explain what happened.” He spoke about the reason of calling it quits saying, “First, I announced my retirement from international cricket in May 2018 because I wanted to reduce my workload and spend more time with my wife and young sons. Some have insisted I was motivated purely by money. They are wrong. In truth, I have turned down many lucrative offers to play around the world, and have cut the time spent away from home each year from eight months to just over three months.”

Two days before the announcement of the squad de Villiers told his long-time friend Faf du Plessis what he had said when asked a year earlier, that he was available if required... but only if required. He said, “I made absolutely no demands at all. I certainly did not try to force my way into the World Cup squad on the eve of the tournament, and did not expect to be included. There was no burning issue from my side, and no sense of injustice.” He went on to explain how the private conversation was leaked by someone due to which people said he was “arrogant, selfish and indecisive.” The legendary batsman said his conscience is clear and he is not angry with anybody. He finished the statement talking about his pride and support for his national team. Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh extended their support to him.

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A post shared by AB de Villiers (@abdevilliers17) on Jul 12, 2019 at 2:30am PDT