“There are controversial moments back home as per usual with the South African squad just before a World Cup,” de Villiers said.
“I think it’s a good team. It’s a shame about Lungi… lost a bit of form, had a couple of injuries. Otherwise, he most probably would have been in the squad and there wouldn’t have been any controversial stuff back home,” he added.
At the moment, Cricket South Africa doesn’t have a committee of selectors and the team is picked by head coaches Shukri Conrad and Rob Walter .
“Sometimes these things happen and it puts you under a bit of pressure as a selection panel and as a coach and a captain,” de Villiers said.
“From what I remember is with the quota system, it’s an average team, an average number over the season and they don’t really look at every series, but as journalists sometimes enjoy steaming up things a bit,” he tried to put things in context.
Following the selection of the squad earlier this month, former Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula and former CSA and ICC president Ray Mali questioned the composition of the side.
“Only one African player selected in the Proteas Team for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 Team. Definitely a reserval of the gains of transformation and doesn’t reflect fair representation of all South Africans in the national cricket tea,” Mbalula wrote on X.
On SABC Sport, Mali said the game is heading backwards in the country.
“I believe a lot has been achieved, but I believe we have gone backwards in terms of cricket – we have taken a step backwards instead of going forward,” said Mali.
But de Villiers was a bit more empathetic towards those who made the choices and said he does not see anything sinister in the process.
“Maybe they are short. Maybe they are well within their right to do whatever they were needed to do in this World Cup.
“Keeping in mind there were a couple of injuries, a couple of out of form players. It’s never easy,” he said.
On the upside, South Africa’s IPL stars have displayed ominous form in the preceding T20 league and that would surely give them confidence to go the distance in the World Cup too.
