Desperate De Villiers takes some big decisions soon after IPL :- South Africa ODI skipper AB de Villiers says he is willing to keep himself fresh ahead of Champions Trophy and 2019 World Cup and dismissed rumours regarding his retirement from Test Cricket. De Villiers was last seen in whites in January 2016 against England at Centurion where he got a pair.

“I made some important decisions for my life and career in the last year or so in order for me to have the best chance of winning trophies and being part of a successful team,” de Villiers said in Hove on May 18 on the ocassion of Proteas warm-up game against Sussex.

“Physically I realised I”m the best I can be when I”m fresh and looking forward to cricket instead of the other way round and being tired when I”m playing. Spending time with the family has done me the world of good and it is about finding the balance of working hard to win with time away from the game.” the star South African batsman quoted.

De Villiers had said he won”t play any T20 league except IPL and there is no chance you”ll see him at Big Bash after some sources said he got very close to signing a deal for Sydney Thunder.

After the 2015 World cup debacle down under, De Villiers is very keen to perform well and bring home Champions Trophy as well as Cricket World Cup 2019.

“I haven”t won one of these trophies in my career, so I”m pretty desperate to win one, and we”ll do anything we can to get out on top. We know these tournaments are very competitive – there are eight teams that want to win it and can win it but we do think we”ve got a very good squad here. I”ve got a good feeling about this one,”de Villiers said.

He has decided to opt out of test series against England which commences just after Champions Trophy. De Villiers has made it very clear that he hasn”t yet retired from test cricket but he won”t change his decision of skipping England test series.

“I haven”t retired, no. But I”m not going to change my decision. I”ll look indecisive,” he said.

– by Atharva Apte