Shaun Pollock opens up on AB de Villiers controversy

Mumbai: AB de Villiers is grabbing all the headlines due to his plea for a return to the national side for the World Cup.

The 35-year-old had approached skipper Faf du Plessis and head coach Ottis Gibson for expressing his wish to play in the World Cup. But according to the reports, his offer was not only rejected but it was not even considered.

One of the prime reasons behind the rejection was that De Villiers did not fulfil the selection criteria to be able to play the mega-event. He had not played domestic and international cricket after hanging his boots.

De Villiers retired from all forms of international cricket last May but has played in lucrative Twenty20 competitions since. He had captained South Africa at the 2015 World Cup when they exited in the semi-finals against New Zealand.

Now, South Africa's veteran bowler Shaun Pollock has expressed his views on this matter. Former South Africa Shaun Pollock now has also come out speaking on the matter and according to him, if de Villiers had offered to play for the Proteas just when the final squad was set to be announced, it would have disrupted things from the team’s perspective.

“If it did come just as the (World Cup) team was about to be announced, that’s quite disruptive from a team perspective,” Pollock, who is doing commentary for the World Cup, was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

Linda Zondi, the convener of the Proteas selection panel, also said that a sudden inclusion of de Villiers would have done injustice to players who had filled the void after AB de Villiers departure.

South Africa has failed to leave a mark at World Cup 2019 as they have lost three consecutive matches. The Proteas have lost to England, Bangladesh and India in their first three matches of the mega-event.