AB de Villiers wanted to come back for WC but SA rejected offer with 'no regrets'
Johannesburg, Jun 6: AB de Villiers wanted to come out of retirement for the World Cup but Cricket South Africa (CSA) refused to accept the offer as the batting great had ignored pleas to not retire last year.
According to 'ESPNCricinfo', de Villiers made the offer to come back in May, barely 24 hours before the final squad for the ongoing showpiece in the UK was to be announced by CSA.
The revelation came amid a disastrous start to South Africa's World Cup campaign, which has seen them lose three matches including one to Bangladesh. While Wednesday's six-wicket defeat to India turned the situation from bad to worse, the loss of pace great Dale Steyn to a shoulder injury has also considerably weakened the team.
CSA selection panel convenor Linda Zondi confirmed that de Villiers did make the offer and that skipper Faf du Plessis and coach Ottis Gibson were quite keen to have him back as well.
However, de Villiers' omission was based on principles, Zondi said.
"I pleaded with AB de Villiers not to retire in 2018. Although there was a perception that he was picking and choosing when to play - which was not true - I did give him the option to plan and monitor his season to get him to the World Cup fresh and in a good space," Zondi said in the CSA release.
"He turned down the offer and said he was at peace with his decision to retire," he recalled.
"For Faf du Plessis and Ottis Gibson to share AB's desire to be included in the squad on the day we announced our World Cup squad on April 18th was a shock to all of us. AB left a big vacuum when he retired, we had a year to find players at franchise level to fill the gap," he added.
Amid the revelations, de Villiers expressed his support for the beleaguered team.
"All that's important is that we should all focus on supporting the team at the World Cup. There is a long way to go and I believe the boys can still go all the way," de Villiers wrote on his twitter handle.
The three straight defeats have left South Africa with an improbable task of winning all six of their remaining preliminary fixtures, just to keep their prospects of reaching the semi-finals alive.
Zondi said that de Villiers dropped no hints of wanting to come back in the year gone by..
"We had players who put in the hard work, who put up their hands and deserved to be given the opportunity to go to the World Cup.
"At no point in the year that he had retired did he make himself available for selection. It was no option when I received the news on the day of the squad announcement, our squad was finalised and confirmed," he said.
The 35-year-old swashbuckler is considered a modern-day great for his innovative shots and more importantly, his ability to decimate rival attacks, making him a game-changer.
"AB is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world, but above all else, we have to stay true to our morals and principles, there is no regret in the decision," Zondi said.
Retirement in 2018, exactly a year before the World Cup, meant de Villiers could not fulfil the selection criteria, which included playing domestic or international cricket in the intervening months.
The report stated that it was recalling the dashing batsman at the last moment would have been unfair on the players who have been performing in his absence, such as Rassie van der Dussen.
Dussen made three fifties in his first four ODI innings after making his debut against Pakistan in January.
Before the cricket community trained its eyes on the World Cup, de Villiers turned out for his IPL franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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Rain lashes parts of Bengal as severe cyclone 'Dana' moves closer to coast
Kolkata (PTI): Several districts of West Bengal received moderate to heavy rain on Thursday morning, as severe cyclonic storm 'Dana' inched closer to the state’s coast and that of neighbouring Odisha, the IMD said.
The cyclonic storm is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port in Odisha early Friday with wind speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour (kmph), it said.
The weather system lay 280 km southeast of Paradip (Odisha) and 370 km south-southeast of Sagar Island (West Bengal) at 2.30 am, the IMD said in a bulletin.
The cyclonic storm is set to bring heavy rainfall in several south Bengal districts, including Kolkata.
Advising fishermen not to venture into the sea, the Met Department said gale wind with speeds reaching 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph is prevailing over northwest Bay of Bengal.
It warned that the wind speed over the area is likely to increase gradually to
100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph till Friday morning, and decrease thereafter.
The coastal districts of Bengal are experiencing moderate to heavy rain and gusty winds since the early hours of Thursday, while Kolkata woke up to an overcast sky and intermittent showers.
The bulletin warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy downpour in isolated places in the south Bengal districts of North and South 24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly districts on Thursday and Friday.
Public transportation to and from Kolkata's suburbs may get affected from the evening, as Eastern and South Eastern railways cancelled a large number of trains on Thursday and Friday, in view of the cyclone.
More than 170 express and passenger trains running through South Eastern Railway (SER) jurisdiction have been cancelled, an official said.
The trains cancelled were scheduled to depart from their originating stations between October 23 and October 27, he said.
The Kolkata-headquartered SER zone is spread across West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand.
Besides, the Eastern Railway (ER) will not operate any EMU local train from Sealdah station on its south and Hasnabad sections from 8 pm on Thursday till 10 am on Friday, the official said.
The ER also cancelled 68 suburban trains on the Howrah division on Friday morning, he said.
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said it is on high alert and has mobilised vessels and aircraft to respond swiftly to any contingency over the Bay of Bengal.
Meanwhile, the NDRF said it has deployed several teams across south Bengal to tackle any emergency situation.
Ferry services in the Sunderbans area spread over North and South 24 Parganas districts and also across river Hooghly in Kolkata and adjoining areas will remain cancelled in view of the impending inclement weather, officials said.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has also opened a control room at its headquarters here, and cancelled the leaves of all essential staff.
