AB de Villiers had called time on his international career before wanting to return for the 2019 World Cup.
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South Africa’s chief selector for the 2019 World Cup Linda Zondi stated that he turned down an opportunity to select AB de Villiers for the prestigious tournament, because it would have been unfair for the players already selected. Zondi revealed this information before Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) Social Justice and National-Building (SJN) committee. The objective was to discuss various selections that took place under his watch.
“When AB took a break [in 2017], he didn’t share the information with me. I contacted him and said I wasn’t happy with what you have done and he apologised. Then there was the World Cup, which was a massive story. The captain [Faf du Plessis] came to me and said AB would like to be included in the World Cup. I turned it down because AB had earlier come to me and said he wanted to retire and I told him [then] we need you in the World Cup in England. If there are certain series you miss, we can work with that. I said I am happy to manage your time and you can retire after the World Cup. He said no, he wants to retire. Then, Faf came that AB wanted to return. I turned it down. I thought it was unethical to the players who were part of the squad,” said Zondi.
The former chief selector further revealed his opinion on the non-selection of Khaya Zondo which has been controversial, due to the alleged involvement of De Villiers. Former selector Hussein Manack had earlier claimed that De Villiers blocked Zondo’s selection for an ODI against India.
“What happened on the day was, because I wasn’t there, the selector on tour became the final decision-maker. I’m glad Hussein came and confessed that he had pressure put on him. I was clear with him that I was very unhappy with the decision,” said Zondi.
“He contacted us the night before saying JP is injured, so we will need a replacement. Secondly, we have David Miller who is not in form. The first thing we had to deal with was to fly in a replacement from South Africa. Because even if Khaya played, we still needed to have a back-up. We said fine, it’s not a difficult situation. Khaya must play. Khaya had been to India. He was in form. Was a batter, and the spot was in his position. He would not have been thrown in the deep end. It was a no-brainer. Khaya must play. It was made clear to Hussein that Khaya must play. In the morning, I turned on the TV and I saw Khaya was not playing,” he added.
“He [Hussein] shared the information with the captain AB de Villiers and according to Hussein, AB was unhappy. He sensed AB put him in a corner. Felt Dean Elgar, because of experience, should play, and Hussein gave in. When he gave in, he didn’t come back to me and said we are changing our decision. AB knew that I was a full-time convenor. At any stage, if the captain was not happy with the selection, he should have contacted me. The CEO [Haroon Lorgat] was on tour and the CEO himself entertained the discussion. The captain didn’t come to me, the CEO didn’t come to me. When the team came back to South Africa, I made sure the right process was followed and Khaya played in the next series,” concluded Zondi.
