ICC World Cup 2019 | AB de Villiers could have handled his comeback back plan better, says Rassie van der Dussen

De Villiers made himself available for the selection just before South Africa’s squad announcement, which made his selection a tough one. Rassie van der Dusser, the man who replaced de Villiers in the South African line-up, has stated that the latter should have handled his retirement plans in a much better way.  

“It’s not necessarily the best question to ask to me because I am involved in it, but had he not retired it definitely would have influenced me directly. But you can’t, on the day before the announcement and a team that’s been working for something for year and even longer than a year, come and say, ‘I want to make a comeback now,” van der Dusser said, reported ESPNCricinfo. 

“I am not saying he was wrong, or he was right; so, don’t misquote me. But it would have set a difficult precedent – not necessarily a wrong one, because it’s still AB, he is still one of the best players in the world – I just think it was handled maybe not in the correct way from his side. I wasn’t surprised that he would want to make a comeback on the world’s biggest stage. That’s the thing all the biggest players in sport have in common. They want to perform when the pressure is on and when the stage is at its biggest,” he added.