The conversation is still very open: Mark Boucher on AB de Villiers' international return

RCB batsman AB de Villiers showed some form during the opening match of the IPL 2021 between Bangalore and Mumbai Indians where he played a match-winning knock.

Struggling at 106/5 while chasing 160, ABD took charge of the situation in his hands and scored 48 off just 27 deliveries. RCB eventually won the match by 2 wickets.

There have been talks about the right-handed batsman’s return to the South African setup for the upcoming World T20 scheduled to take place in India later this year. Now coach Mark Boucher in an online press conference has talked about the progress of having ABD back in the side.

"I chatted to him before he went over to the [Indian Premier League]. The conversation is still very open. AB being the person he is, he wanted to perform very well at the IPL to prove to himself and everyone else that he's still a key figure in world cricket and can dominate at that level. I said to him, 'You go do your thing and I'll give you a shout towards the end of the IPL and see where you are,” Boucher said.

AB last played a T20I match for South Africa against Bangladesh in 2017 while hung his boots from the international cricket in 2018. "After 114 Tests, 228 ODIs, 78 T20Is. It is time for others to take over,” he said.

Earlier, ABD had also offered to come out of retirement and play the 2019 World Cup for South Africa but didn’t really workout. According to an ESPNcricinfo report, de Villiers had approached Faf du Plessis and other members of the board expressing his desire to represent the country in the mega tournament.

Though, the South Africa team management rejected the offer. "The decision was based on principle; we had to be fair to the team, the selection panel, our franchise system and players," Cricket South Africa's selection panel convener, Linda Zondi said in an official statement.

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The Royal Challengers Bangalore had a decent start to the IPL 2021 campaign after they won both the first two matches on the trot. In a video released by the franchise on their official social media handle, RCB’s mainstay AB de Villiers talks about batting combination, his advice to Virat Kohli during the England series and youngsters to watch out for in this edition. Kohli’s side etched victory in the first match riding on some fine batting from AB de Villiers against Mumbai Indians and then defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad after defending 149 in 20 overs. “There came a time when we as a batting unit felt something special and now the consistency and sustainability of that is important. If we do it three or four times we will start believing that,” he said. “You want to get into the winning culture and where you feel like if I don’t do it, he will do it. You get this beautiful flow going in the team,” he added. India skipper Kohli faced some problems initially while facing the England bowlers and subsequently the right-handed batsman had a chat with ABD about what to do. When asked about his conversation with Kohli, de Villiers said that he mentioned about four points and further asked the Indian mainstay to stick to the basics. “I have been watching him for quite a while, I was watching him for a few months looking like he was quite intense at the crease. So, I wasn’t really surprised when I got his message. I knew immediately all he needs to hear is the basic stuff,” the former South Africa captain said. RCB have a few youngsters in the side. Talking about Rajat Patidar, the right-handed batsman said that he is someone to watch out for this year. “Rajat made his debut the other night. I haven’t seen him play a big innings yet but I have watched him in the nets yesterday. He is a very promising talent, looks calm at the wicket and very good striker of the ball,” de Villiers said.

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