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South Africa captain Faf du Plessis said on Monday that talks are underway to get back their star batsman AB de Villiers back into international circuit before the T20 World Cup in Australia in October next year.

“Those conversations have been happening two or three months ago,” said Faf du Plessis, who was responding to the comment of new South African head coach Mark Boucher.

AB de Villiers left everyone in shock with his retirement from international cricket last year in May. He’s one of the best players and has become a specialist in the shortest format of the game. After retiring from international cricket, he continued to play the T20 leagues around the globe. He will also play in the Big Bash League this season.

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Faf du Plessis on AB de Villiers’ return

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“People want AB to play and I am no different,” Du Plessis added. “Those conversations [with De Villiers] have been happening for two or three months already – what does it look like, how does it look over the next year, and that’s where it starts. T20 cricket is a different beast; it’s not a lot of time away from home.”

Mark Boucher, who took the responsibility of the head coach of South Africa, shared earlier that he would love to have AB de Villiers in the World Cup squad.

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“When you go to a World Cup you want your best players. If you feel he’s one of the best players, then why wouldn’t you want to have conversations with him? If there are a couple of issues you’ve got to iron out, if it’s for the best of South Africa, absolutely. Let’s try and do it,” he expressed.

South Africa will play three Twenty20 Internationals at home against England. After that, he will play another three T20I against Australia, starting from February 12. However, du Plessis welcomed the recent changes in the South African cricket over the past week. With this, former captain Graeme Smith was appointed as an interim director of cricket and Boucher was handed over the responsibility of the head coach.