AB De Villiers reveals the reason behind his retirement ahead of 2019 World cup

What's the news?

Legendary South African batsman AB de Villiers opened up about his decision to retire from International cricket.

In case you didn't know...

AB de Villiers announced his retirement from International cricket in 2018, which shocked both fans and the entire cricketing fraternity. There were calls for him to make a return ahead of the 2019 World Cup but he refused to do so.

The Heart of the matter

The South African superstar was talking with Gaurav Kapur in his YouTube show 'Breakfast with Champions'. In that show, he was asked if he can make a return to International cricket. To this, ABD replied that he can consider a return if he is good enough and Dhoni is still playing.

"How old will I be (in 2023)? 39! I'll come back if MS (Dhoni) is still around (laughs). If I'm still good enough, who knows eh?" AB said.

Mr. 360 revealed that constant criticism about him picking and choosing games played a part in his decision to retire. He further added that it was a sensitive situation, so he retired even though he wanted to play in the 2019 World Cup.

"I was keen to play the World Cup (2019) but I retired, so it was a very sensitive situation. For the last 3 years of my career, I was labelled as a guy who was picking and choosing when I was playing and when not," ABD said.

He claimed that this was also the reason behind him not accepting calls to make a return ahead of the World Cup. ABD said that it would be picking and choosing again so he decided against coming back.

"So I got quite a lot of criticism from back home which also played a role in me retiring. And it was difficult for me to then go: 'Hey, but I'll still play the World Cup'. You know, it's the picking and choosing thing again. And it's quite arrogant to do something like that. But as they say, you can't have your bread buttered on both sides," said AB.

What's next?

AB de Villiers is a legend of the game, so him not being part of the World Cup is a loss for the tournament as well.

Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on World Cup live score, schedule, news, points table, most runs, most wickets and fantasy tips.