Not retiring from Test cricket: AB de Villiers

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AB de Villiers
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AB de Villiers will not be retiring from Test cricket, but South Africa’s one-day captain has prioritised the 2019 World Cup and wants to manage his workload ahead of the tournament.

De Villiers has spent the past six months on the sidelines with an elbow injury, which forced him to relinquish the Test captaincy in December when it became clear that he would miss a third straight series.

His availability for the upcoming Test series in New Zealand was then brought into question when both captain Faf du Plessis and coach Russell Domingo admitted that they did not know if de Villiers wanted to continue playing Tests.

But in an interview with South African station Radio 702 on Tuesday morning, de Villiers said: “I am not retiring from Test cricket. I am not retiring from any format. I am not prepared to do that. I want to play as much as possible in order for me to play in that 2019 World Cup. Whatever that is, we are still talking about it.

“I am going to have to make certain choices. It’s not easy for me. I have always been the go-ahead guy, the team man. I never wanted to miss a game for South Africa and I still don’t but with the schedules these days, it’s really tough to play all formats, especially at the age of 32 when most cricketers don’t go past the age of 35. If you do the math, it takes to me to 2019, 2020 at the most. Hopefully by then I will still be fit and be there to lift the trophy with the boys.”