De Villiers’ Test future in doubt: report

South African batsman AB de Villiers is close to retiring from Test cricket in order to extend his time in limited-overs formats, a media report said yesterday.

“I’m not sure how AB will feel in terms of Test cricket so we will have to see,” South African Test skipper Faf du Plessis was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia’s website yesterday.

South Africa whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0 in a three-match series, winning by an innings and 118 runs in Johannesburg on Saturday. “We are excited to have him back in the oneday team. I am hoping he decides to play [Tests] for us. He is obviously a worldclass batter and I, as a captain, would love to have him as a leader in our team, and obviously as a batter. He is a fantastic player.”

Struggling with an elbow injury that has seen him out of action since May 2016, de Villiers, the dashing righthander also stood down from Test captaincy after they completed an impressive 2-1 series win over Australia in December.

The 32-year-old has recovered from his elbow problem to make his return in South Africa’s domestic 50-over competition, and is scheduled to play his first match next Sunday.