Published: Oct 26, 2018, 07:57 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 26, 2018, 07:57 PM (IST)
Speculations about AB de Villiers rethinking his retirement and playing for South Africa again were categorically refuted by the man himself saying that his his words ‘never say never’ were taken out of context and made it to catchy headlines.
“No, there is no comeback,” Villiers told ESPN Cricinfo. “I made the mistake of saying ‘never say never’, which is a philosophy that I have always followed in my life. I was actually trying to say that I am focusing on the now, but it came out horribly wrong and the next minute there were headlines around the world.”
De Villiers went on to say that he will be careful not to confuse the South African team with such ‘selfish’ and ‘arrogant’ statements in the future.
“I certainly do not want to confuse anyone around the world, especially the Proteas team. It will be very selfish and arrogant of me to throw statements around that I want to play at the World Cup. I am happy where I am and focusing on the now and I will never say ‘never say never’ again. My focus at the moment is to play good cricket in the Mzansi Super League for the Tshwane Spartans. I have been working hard to be fit.”
However, the former South Africa skipper will be back to playing cricket since announcing his international retirement earlier this year, turning up for Cricket South Africa’s T20 league, the Mzansi Super League, playing for Tshwane Spartans.
“I haven’t played cricket for a while, but I am getting back into the swing of things,” de Villiers said at the Tshwane Spartans launch. “I have had these kinds of breaks before and it is always a challenge to get fit and hit balls again. I am really looking forward to that, and what will be a really good challenge in the Mzansi Super League.”
