Former Proteas captain AB de Villiers is open to coming out of international retirement for this year’s T20 World Cup in Australia.

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De Villiers retired from Test, ODI and T20I cricket in 2018 and has since been playing domestic T20 cricket around the world. This includes stints in the Indian Premier League, Pakistan Super League, Mzansi Super League – and currently the Big Bash League in Australia.

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‘There’s a lot that needs to happen before that becomes reality,’ said De Villiers.

‘I would love to. I’ve been talking to [head coach] Mark Boucher, [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.’

The Proteas have been pooled with England, India, Afghanistan and two qualifying teams in the 2020 T20 World Cup (previously named the World Twenty20).

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