Sydney: One of cricket's biggest names has been plucked out of retirement on Tuesday, for the upcoming Big Bash League, as South African superstar AB de Villiers set to join the Brisbane Heat for the second half of the season which kicks off in December.
Regarded as one of the most dynamic batsman ever, the three-time one-day international ICC Player of the Year has played 420 international matches, scoring more than 20,000 runs and 47 centuries in a career that spanned over 13 years.
Despite walking away from the South African national side in 2018, the 35-year-old has continued to light up the cricket world in the T20 area, with a strike rate of 154 in the Indian Premier League and a strike rate of 182 in England's T20 Blast.
"You go through moments after retirement when you're really keen to play, then you just want to be at home," De Villiers told Cricket Australia."It's really difficult to balance that out. Time spent at home and time away, so I'm very selective of where I play at the moment, and the body is getting a bit older so I can't play too much."
"I like to be at home over the Christmas and New year period, but I couldn't say no to coming to Brisbane and joining in on the fun.""It's one of the best tournaments around and I've been following it for a while now and from what I've heard from other players who have played there, it's just all positives. The standard of cricket is good, and they get big crowds," he said.
With just one title since the competition began back in 2011, cricket experts are predicting that under the guidance of former Australian head coach Darren Lehman, this season could bring the Brisbane Heat's second trophy. XINHUA