Head coach Mark Boucher has reiterated the Proteas’ ambition to have former captain AB de Villiers in the squad for the T20 World Cup later this year.

De Villiers, whose international career ended in 2018, recently suggested coming out of retirement for the T20I showpiece in Australia.

‘He’s a discussion in the media and in the public but he is no discussion for me. I have had chats with him and we will probably know pretty soon what’s going to happen with him,’ said Boucher.

‘Like I said from day one when I took over, if we are going to a World Cup, I would like to have our best players there.

‘If AB is in good form and he is raring to go and he makes himself available for the time we have asked him to be available; if he is the best man for the job, then he must go. It’s not about egos or anything like that, it’s about sending your best team to the World Cup to try and win that competition.’

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Since retiring from Test ODI and T20I cricket, the prolific De Villiers has played in domestic T20 tournaments around the world, including the Indian Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League and Pakistan Super League.

He was recently with the Brisbane Heat in Australia’s Big Bash League. He will be with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL this year.

Boucher’s first series as head coach recently concluded. It was lined with Test and T20I series defeats by England. The ODI series was drawn.

‘I knew it was going to be tough. I don’t want to get emotional about the whole thing. You’ve got to try and be practical and look at where we are as a team and understand that there is a lot of hard work to do,’ he added.

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