After announcing his shocking retirement from international cricket in May 2018, AB de Villiers is keen on helping Cricket South Africa by returning as a consultant in the near future. Although he is still available to play for Titans, his domestic franchise and the IPL, Cricket South Africa CEO said that he is interested in a consultancy role.
CSA CEO Thabang Moroe, who had a chat with ABD after his retirement about the likelihood of turning towards a coaching role addressed the issue at a press conference following his appointment.
Moroe said, “He has indicated it would be something he is keen on. But we need to talk about the scale. AB has just retired with the notion of him wanting to spend more time with family. If I am going to put him in the development or pipeline structures and he ends up spending more time away than when he was in the national team, it is obviously not going to work for him. We need to sit down and agree on how we are going to do it when we are doing it and the details around it. But it’s something he has indicated he would like to do.”
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Just before the end of IPL 2018, AB de Villiers left the cricketing fraternity shocked after his decision to get retired from international cricket and posted a video explaining his decision on his Twitter handle. That brought to an end a 14-year international career with South Africa that began in 2004 and that saw him play 114 Tests, 228 ODIs, and 78 T20Is.
Although De Villiers has never worked as a coach, the fact that he is a former international means that he would automatically be considered to hold a Level 2 certificate. His work-life balance was the reason behind him taking a break from the game in 2016 and eventually announcing his retirement and it will be interesting to see if he takes up a coaching role for the South African team ahead of next year’s World Cup.
The second Test between Sri Lanka and South Africa begins on July 20 and the Proteas will be looking to bounce back and level the series 1-1 after scoring their lowest Test total since re-admission and losing the first Test at Galle by 278 runs.
