AB De Villiers saga: Gibson reveals stunning details

According to Gibson, De Villiers got in touch with Proteas captain, Faf Du Plessis during the Indian Premier League and expressed a desire to reverse his retirement and return to the team for the World Cup.

In a press-conference which Gibson described as a, ‘court case’, 48-hours before South Africa face the West Indies in a must win game, he confirmed that De Villiers had also contacted him on the eve of the Proteas squad announcement.

“I suspect that there are a lot more people wanting AB to be here than himself. I believe if he wanted to be here, he would be here, but he is somewhere doing what he wants to do,” Gibson said.

READ: Cricket South Africa – selecting AB would not have been fair

Gibson said that De Villiers also called him on the day he announced his retirement and that he offered his opinion on the decision.

“I don’t think you should have to beg a guy to play for his country,” Gibson said.

“I did make it clear that he was making a bad decision and that he could help us win the World Cup, he said he made his decision and that he wanted to spend time with his family.”

That was not the only time, Gibson addressed the situation with the 35-year-old.

“I actually saw him in December at a Mzansi League game and asked him if you are finished with this retirement thing, he said he was happy to be retired and that was that as far as the Proteas were concerned,” Gibson said.

ALSO READ - Chris Morris: Stranger things have happened at the World Cup

“It is disappointing that it has come out at this time, when we spoke about managing distractions when we came together as a camp, this was one of the things we said that could come up. I don’t imagine that will affect the way we play cricket, we haven’t played well so far, it is disappointing,” Gibson concluded.

Keep up to date with the latest Cricket World Cup action with Myron Naicker as he brings us exclusive updates from England. Find the lastest update in the podcast channel below: