South Africa vs England: Is AB de Villiers considering retirement from Tests?

 

 World No. 1 Test team South Africa are currently taking on England in the first of the four-Test series. Even as the Boxing Day Test is finely poised, with England on the front foot, all the attention of the cricketing world is getting diverted towards one man. When the series draws to a close late in January, will we have seen AB de Villiers donning the whites for the last time?

 Reports in South African media have surfaced over the last few days suggesting de Villiers is considering his future in the longest format. According to a report on ESPNCricinfo, an Afrikaans newspaper, Rapport, carried the news that several of de Villiers' current and former team-mates have said that events in recent years have led to the South African superstar seriously reconsidering his Test future.

For his part, AB de Villiers, while saying he still loves playing for the country, has said he has to reassess his workload.

"There are a lot of rumours flying around I hear, but for the last two to three years the only talk I've been doing is to keep myself fresh and to have a bit of rest here and there," de Villiers said before the start of the third day's play in the ongoing Test in Durban. De Villiers went on to say that there is a talk in the Proteas camp for him to manage his schedule and not to play in three formats of cricket, leaving the door ajar for a potential shock retirement.
"If I play all the IPL games the whole season, I do get a bit tired towards the end of the season," AB de Villiers said. "That's the only thing that I've been talking about in the last while. To keep myself fresh and to keep enjoying the game. I love representing my country and nothing has changed."
De Villiers, in addition to being the batting mainstay of a lineup that is struggling to scores runs, has also taken on the responsibilities of a wicketkeeper for the first two Tests of the ongoing series against England.
The 31-year-old has kept wickets just 23 times in his 103-Test career and it's a role he's been reluctant to perform in recent years due to a chronic back issue.
South Africa’s T20I skipper Faf du Plessis had said some time back that de Villiers would only put on the keeping gloves for the shortest format of the game.
But the 13-man squad which the Proteas have announced for the England series has de Villiers as the only recognised keeper as Dane Vilas and Quinton de Kock have not made the cut.
"One of the issues that concerned us during the tour to India was the lack of depth to our batting, particularly in the lower order," selection convener Linda Zondi was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au on Thursday.