The absence of the star batsman AB de Villiers from the Test squad of South Africa has ignited a banter on Twitter, with his former teammates Herschelle Gibbs and Ashwell Prince.
Gibbs showed his disagreement with the statement Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis related to the future of De Villiers. Du Plessis said that de Villiers has “earned the right to do whatever he wants.” Gibbs was pointed out that Jacques Kallis was one of the greatest all-rounders of all time, never had such rights.
Interesting article this..captain putting a player on a pedestal! Never thought I'd see this..anyway pic.twitter.com/F6u17j0sVD
— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) August 11, 2017
Kallis achieved more than ab ever will but he kept on playing and never disrespected the team and the game.remember that
— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) August 11, 2017
Former Proteas opener also shared that Kallis played for a longer period of time still didn’t get the chance to choose matches he wanted to play in.
Ridiculous statement @hershybru just wondering at which point then @amlahash will be allowed to do what he wants. Soon it's free for all.🤔 https://t.co/UtzYmi2daz
— Ashwell Prince (@ashyp_5) August 11, 2017
Has nothing to with administrators..that's the national captain speaking! Did smith ever say kallis could do that? and he achieved more
— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) August 11, 2017
This is when Prince came into the play with his views. He wondered of players like Hashim Amla will be given the same liberty. Prince was also surprised when former skipper Graeme skipper also backed de Villiers in this.
He, Smith did recently say AB could do whatever he wants to. There must be a tipping point where players become bigger than the Nation.🤔 https://t.co/NxULmKtEGy
— Ashwell Prince (@ashyp_5) August 11, 2017
After Simon Harmer and Paul Harris expressed their thoughts, Prince once again hit back at them.
As ex players why not pick up the phone and call him instead of having a go on Twitter. #justathought
— paul harris (@paulharris12) August 11, 2017
O my word Ash….why always looking for a fight. We were all team mates once. There are better ways of going about it than Twitter. Surely.
— paul harris (@paulharris12) August 11, 2017
Is that why you replied to me on twitter and not DM? Off course there are better ways to deal with things, and we expect leaders to do that. https://t.co/otWD8guWdU
— Ashwell Prince (@ashyp_5) August 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/SimonHarmerRSA/status/895930389637861380?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportswallah.com%2Fnews%2Fcricket%2Fab-de-villiers-hiatus-from-tests-sparks-spiteful-banter-between-former-south-african-cricketers
https://twitter.com/SimonHarmerRSA/status/895934936787681280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportswallah.com%2Fnews%2Fcricket%2Fab-de-villiers-hiatus-from-tests-sparks-spiteful-banter-between-former-south-african-cricketers
https://twitter.com/SimonHarmerRSA/status/895939200578719745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportswallah.com%2Fnews%2Fcricket%2Fab-de-villiers-hiatus-from-tests-sparks-spiteful-banter-between-former-south-african-cricketers
Anyway @SimonHarmerRSA enough about kolpak etc. But why did you stop messaging/tweeting nice things about me after I quit selection panel?🤔
— Ashwell Prince (@ashyp_5) August 11, 2017
https://twitter.com/SimonHarmerRSA/status/895983685970907137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportswallah.com%2Fnews%2Fcricket%2Fab-de-villiers-hiatus-from-tests-sparks-spiteful-banter-between-former-south-african-cricketers
De Villiers played his last Test in January 2016. Since then the star batsman has played only limited-overs matches for the South Africana team. Recently after the conclusion of the series against England recently, Du Plessis gave hints that De Villiers might have played his final Test for the Proteas.
