Proteas limited-overs captain Quinton de Kock has said that AB de Villiers was in line to make his return to international cricket at the T20 World Cup later this year before it was postponed.
The 36-year-old De Villiers retired from international cricket in 2018 citing tiredness but his comeback to the South African team has been on the cards.
Former captain Faf du Plessis and head coach Mark Boucher said in December that discussions were taking place with De Villiers to make himself available for the T20 World Cup, which was scheduled to start in Australia in October.
However, the tournament has now been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and De Kock is not sure if De Villiers will be available to play next year.
Speaking on the Cricket Connected show on Star Sports, De Kock said: “He was definitely in line. If fit, I would have loved to have AB de Villiers.
“I think any team would have loved to have AB de Villiers in their team.
“While we were pushing for him, now we will have to see when the T20 World Cup is going to happen now.”
Speaking after taking part in the Solidarity Cup on Saturday, before the ICC’s announcement, De Villiers was not unsure about his international future.
He said: “I don’t know what to expect to be honest. It has been quite a few months now and nothing really has been properly scheduled yet.
“Obviously I would just like to get out there and play cricket. There are lots of talks, but in the meantime, I will stay fit in the gym and hit cricket balls.
“Hopefully the virus moves on and we can get back to as normal as possible in no time.”
– TEAMtalk media