AB retired off his own bat and should stay out

Now that the Proteas have lost three games on the trot in the Cricket World Cup, there has been a lot of finger-pointing, especially from armchair coaches – myself included.

Sport is by nature a topic that evokes a lot of emotions. Most South Africans have been asking why AB de Villiers was left behind even after he had offered to come out of retirement for the World Cup.

This has divided the nation, with some saying had De Villiers been part of the team, the Proteas would have performed way better than they have so far. This might be true because De Villiers proved whenever he donned the green and gold, he can do the job: whether with bat or top-class fielding.

But whether he would have inspired SA to win against England, Bangladesh and India, we will never know. Some commentators even went as far as saying De Villiers might have led the Proteas to an upset win of the coveted trophy. This is despite De Villiers and company having failed to win the World Cup in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

Personally, I feel Cricket SA made the right decision by leaving him behind. It was a gamble that has not worked so far, but it had to be done. We cannot have a situation where some players are seen to be irreplaceable and bigger than the national team itself.

There is no denying that De Villiers brought his A-game in most matches he played for the Proteas and we will always respect and love him for that, but retiring means exactly that: retiring and watching from the sidelines. He cannot pull a Victor Matfield and want to be selected into the national team just because he decided to come out of retirement. That is not fair on the other players.

Retiring and coming out of retirement worked for undisputed boxing world champion, Floyd Mayweather Junior. But cricket is a team sport. In his own words, De Villiers said he was tired and needed to rest. And calling it quits while De Villiers was still in his prime was a good decision. By doing this, De Villiers opened opportunities for younger cricketers.

Kudos for that because if we are to have a team that will compete against the best in the world, more players need to be groomed and given a chance to represent the nation. Failure to do this will mean that the Proteas will continue to be the laughing stock they currently are.

We have to plan for the future to ensure young and inexperienced players are brought into the Proteas fold. There are 56 million South Africans and surely there are yet to be discovered talented youngsters that are dying for the opportunity to play for the Proteas. This means the likes of Hashim Amla and JP Duminy, who, frankly if we are being honest, have not been at their best for quite a while now, should also retire from all forms of international cricket.

It is time they stepped aside so that young and talented youngsters can take over the baton and build on the foundation they have laid.

Maybe, just maybe, the next generation of players will deliver so that the Proteas rid themselves of the unwanted but well deserved tag of being chokers. Until that happens, they will remain what then sports minister Fikile Mbalula once infamously called our nation soccer team: a bunch of losers.