AB de Villiers, who called time on his international cricket career in May 2018, is open to make a comeback with South Africa at this year’s ICC T20 World Cup, slated to be held in Australia from October 18 to November 15.
Making his Big Bash League (BBL) debut for Brisbane Heat on Tuesday (January 14), De Villiers smashed 31-ball 40 to help him team register a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Adelaide Strikers.
"There's a lot that needs to happen before that becomes reality," the 35-year-old quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.
"I would love to. I've been talking to 'Bouch' (new South Africa coach Mark Boucher), (new director of cricket) Graeme Smith and (captain) Faf (du Plessis) back home, we're all keen to make it happen.
"It's a long way away still, and plenty can happen – there's the IPL coming up, I've still got to be in form at that time.
"So I'm thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping that everything will work out.
"It's not a guarantee once again. I don't want to disappoint myself or other people, so for now I'm just going to try and keep a low profile, try and play the best possible cricket that I can and then see what happens towards the end of the year."
De Villiers has previously grabbed headlines with reports of his international return. Ahead of the ICC ODI World Cup 2019, the Proteas batting maverick reportedly made himself available for the mega event, only for CSA to reject the offer.
But with the new-look power structure in Cricket South Africa, the possibility of De Villiers’ comeback seems more realistic this time around.
"There are a lot of players (involved with CSA) who I used to play with," he stated. "Guys who understand the game, leaders of the team for many years.
"So it's much easier to communicate than what it used to be in the past. They understand what players go through – especially players that have played for 15 years internationally.
"It doesn't mean that everything is going to be sunshine and roses but it's definitely a lot easier and it feels comfortable, the language that's being used and just the feel that everyone has at the moment in South Africa about the cricket."
Apart from Smith and Boucher, CSA also appointed the legendary Jacques Kallis as national team’s batting consultant last month. And all these changes have brought a smile to De Villiers’ face.
"Absolutely, they're my friends and I played 10-plus years with them internationally," he said.
"We've been through a lot and it's great to have them involved again, and as I said, hopefully I'll be involved again as well pretty soon."
(Inputs from cricket.com.au)
