South Africa might welcome back AB de Villiers in the T20I side amidst outrage over him taking the place of an up and coming player. Rohit Sankar explains why the Proteas cannot afford to ignore their beloved superstar.

We all know the drill by now. A World Cup arrives and the AB de Villiers comeback news does a rinse-repeat. With another T20 World Cup looming, the South African superstar, fresh off another gobsmacking IPL season, has begun unleashing his unfiltered thoughts into the dreams of every Proteas fan. De Villiers has long been fickle about his desires to play for South Africa. A cycle of thought that developed in the cauldron of the heated 2015 World Cup semi-final, left South Africa hanging high and dry after a spectacular home Test series win against Australia in 2018, when de Villiers decided to pull curtains on his international career.

Retirement wasn’t the unravelling of the mystical genius that ramped fast bowlers for fun in coloured clothing and defended through day five of a Test match, rather the unfurling of the sheer heights of what a cricketer is capable of doing on a cricket field. It left teammates gaping in awe – the grapevine around the AB de Villiers Road in Bengaluru has it that Virat Kohli is yet to fully close his mouth after wow-ing over a de Villiers six. The Indian Premier League was his playground and RCB his advertiser, as the showstopper scripted tales that would probably only by a hair’s breadth pass off as reality in the distant future.

The Indians have declared de Villiers one of their own. Meanwhile, in South Africa, crazy debates go on about de Villiers’ whims and fancies that have purportedly placed South African cricket in a hotchpotch, unable to swing one way or the other. Having last played a T20I four years ago, de Villiers’ comeback, which is swiftly turning into more of a reality this time around with his former teammates in the management, is deemed unfair for an incumbent batsman who could miss out on a place in the XI through little fault of his own.

There is little arguing over how mercurial de Villiers has been. He has wobbled about on his desire, or lack of desire, to represent the national team innumerable times by now, speaking of an ambivalent mind that has unfulfilled dreams. There’re, however, few ways of hiding his evident pining to win a World Cup title for the Proteas, having nearly carried them to the finals of the ODI tournament six years back. It’s probably why the de Villiers talk pops up before a world tournament every single time.

Notably, in 2019, he casually put in a word to his friend and South Africa’s captain Faf du Plessis that he was available “if required” for the 2019 World Cup weeks before the actual tournament. He reiterated that the “door was open” but the “team moved on”.

pic.twitter.com/ahCQBPEo2X

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) July 12, 2019

Only they didn’t really move forward. A harrowing World Cup exit in the group stages followed a dismal dent to their image as a formidable force in international cricket. The Test heavyweight mask had already slipped off after a home series loss to Sri Lanka earlier in 2019. Political issues compounded the problem with their status as an international team in danger until a few weeks back after the cricket board dissolved.

As they head into the 2021 T20 World Cup in India, they have a new leader in Temba Bavuma, whose T20 credentials are much less important than the wider group of people he represents, carrying a seemingly weathered team, that no one really fancies as a semi-final contender. They have lost each of their last five T20I series despite playing four of them at home. The fans have lost hope in bilateral series wins too, earlier a given for South African teams irrespective of how they fared in the big tournaments.

They cannot afford to ignore one of their own who is still setting the world alight with his batting; one who is single-handedly capable of winning them the tournament. If his comeback is at the expense of someone who has made rapid strides as an international cricketer in recent times, it’s just unfortunate, but in the larger desires of the team’s success, de Villiers is too tantalising an option to turn a blind eye to.

Since the end of the last ICC tournament – the 2019 World Cup – de Villiers has played 45 T20s around the world, averaging 46.25 and striking at a rate of 160.87. More than the numbers, the sheer presence of de Villiers spices up the South African team, making them formidable opponents in all conditions against any team.

There is literally no stat that can argue for de Villiers’ exclusion from the T20I side if he firmly throws his hat into the ring. What there is, is an argument centred around loyalty to the national team and personal desires. The perception that he chose money over country has turned quite a few fans against him, but in reality, even if he did choose the money – the argument jammed with loose ends – how do you question an individual’s choice to maximise his earnings, and cater to his family, in the twilight of his cricketing career? Bear in mind that the individual in question had served the country for a decade and a half before retiring to pursue a career in franchise leagues.

The composition of the South African side itself would need a rejig, but it’s time to burst the bubble that South Africa do not need de Villiers for the T20 World Cup. Even if it means tagging along with some of his dilly-dallying, it’s clearly South Africa’s best shot at a realistic chance to touch the golden trophy. He has earned his stripes over the years; the perch from where he sits is high enough to pick and choose games. It’s only fair to make an exemption.

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