AB de Villiers might come out of retirement, but not for RCB

One of the greatest and most watchable batters of all time, South Africa’s AB de Villiers could make a comeback from retirement, but it won’t be for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 40-year-old retired from all forms of cricket in 2021.

"I might still play cricket one day. No confirmation whatsoever, but I’m starting to feel it. My kids are putting me under a bit of pressure, and I feel like I could go to the nets with them. If I enjoy it, maybe I'll walk out and go and play a little bit of casual cricket somewhere again and not professional IPL stuff or SA tours,” said de Villiers in an interview with journalist Melinda Farrell.

"Who knows? But we'll see. I'm gonna try it again and see if this eye is still working. It's a bit blurry, but this (the right one) is the dominant one, and it's working fine. So I'm doing it for my kids and see if I can go out there and enjoy cricket again.”

Mr.360, as he is fondly called, wants to take inspiration from Imran Tahir who is still playing competitive cricket at the age of 45. “I'll maybe ask him to be in my team wherever I go. Just remember this: he's one of my favourite players. Nothing serious, though. We're not talking about RCB and big stuff. Yes, I don't want to feel that pressure again. That's the thing. So, wherever I go, I'll have a bit of fun."

The right-handed batter had a stellar career for South Africa, amassing more than 20000 runs across all formats in international cricket. De Villiers ended his career with an average of over 50 in Tests and ODIs. In IPL, the genius batter slammed 5162 runs @ 39.70 and a strike rate of 151.68, studded with three centuries and 40 fifties.