Cape Town: Wicket-keeper-batsman AB de Villiers is likely to play in a three-day warm-up game against Zimbabwe to make a comeback in the four-day day/night Test which is slated to begin from Boxing Day, here in Port Elizabeth.
De Villiers, regarded as one of the best batsmen of his generation and also as one of the greatest of all time, stepped down from Test captaincy in December 2016 following an elbow injury, which kept him out of the team for a long period. Later a self-imposed exile sidelined him from Tests in 2017.
“We’d like to get him back in whites as soon as possible and we have some plans in place. There’s the practice match which will be good for him,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Linda Zondi, South Africa’s convener of selectors, as saying.
The 33-year-old is currently playing in the Ram Slam T20 and his form in the competition has made Zondi believe that he is ready for a comeback.
“For us as selectors, it’s about getting him into the squad and then it will be worked out from there. It’s a nice problem to have,” Zondi said about de Villiers’s position in playing XI.
South Africa will play a home Test series against India at the beginning of the new year and the Zimbabwe series will be a good warm-up for De Villiers to show some aggression with the bat.
ANI