South African cricketer AB de Villiers is known as one of the best batsmen in the world. No doubt, he can handle any situation on the field. There are many rumors regarding his retirement from the game of cricket.

The uncertainty surrounding AB de Villiers’ future in Test cricket has been looking for quite a while, and there have been reports that the South African batsman could call it times in the longer format of the game anytime this month.

Fellow countryman and former cricketer Jonty Rhodes had put light on the matter saying de Villiers had in fact thought about retiring but kept going after being requested by the Cricket South Africa board. Jonty Rhodes, a well-known figure in India has never been shy about his love for the country that has only grown on him with every visit.

Jonty Rhodes, who is currently mentoring Tamil Nadu Premier League team Ruby Trichy Warriors spoke about the subject. Jonty has always been candid about his views on South African cricket and the game in general.

“I spoke to ABD on Tuesday with regards to the Global T20 that’s going to happen in SA. And certainly, he didn’t ask my opinion about his career. Every player knows when their time is right. The frustrating part from the South African context is that when you are waiting for somebody to come back in, you are almost trying to plug the gaps with options. And you play that guy (who replaces ABD) in and out of a side,” Rhodes revealed.

Jonty said, “I think he wanted to retire a while back from Test cricket, but Cricket South Africa persuaded him to stay on. Before 2016, he was talking to people about his Test future. In South Africa, people are critical because they don’t see the IPL mechanism.”

De Villiers last played a Test for South Africa in 2016 and since then has had issues with injuries. Jonty also felt that South Africa cricket fans do not understand the concept of Indian Premier League (IPL).

“They think cricketers are trying to make as much money as possible and it’s often at the expense of national call-ups. The BCCI is the only cricket board that doesn’t allow their players to play in other competitions. But our guys go from IPL to CPL to England to Big Bash. And they play Test and ODIs whenever they can. There is so much workload and the guys work hard,” the South African added.

He further added, “From a captaincy perspective, de Villiers is just another nice guy. He hasn’t done anything differently.” Jonty finished off by recalling his inspiration behind his great fielding abilities. “Peter Kirsten. We didn’t have any televised international cricket when I was at school during the apartheid era,” Jonty concluded.

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It would be a shame if Jonty did not speak on fielding standards, in particular, India. “When we used to play against India, Mohammed Kaif and Yuvraj Singh were outstanding and Harbhajan Singh was probably the third best. Dhoni and Virat Kohli are physically strong. Fitness has certainly improved and so is the athletic ability,” he explained.