Faf du Plessis says that the Proteas need to accept that AB de Villiers might not return to Test cricket.
The Proteas have had a range of problems surrounding their Test side in recent months. Their bowling attack was weakened by the injury to Dale Steyn, as well as having to deal with an unfit Vernon Philander, not to mention the Kolpak debacle which saw Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw move abroad.
Their batting lineup failed to perform consistently in the England Test series, with a lack of hundreds a major issue as their fragile batting lineup was exposed in the 3-1 series defeat, losing for the first time there in 19 years.
AB de Villiers’ absence, after he ruled himself out of Tests in New Zealand and England, was sorely missed as the No 4 spot in the batting lineup lacked a world-class specialist for the role.
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According to Sport24, Proteas Test skipper Du Plessis commented on De Villiers’ absence from the Test side and was accepting of the possibility of life without him.
‘We all know how good AB is, and we missed him, but we’ve spent too much time talking about “when is AB going to come back?”,’ he explained.
‘The hope of him coming back is something I think we need to move past … If AB comes back it’s a huge bonus … but I don’t expect it.’
Photo: Punit Paranjpe/AFP/Getty Images
