Don’t blame AB de Villiers for this mess, say the pundits

Former Proteas have said it is unfair to heap all the blame for South Africa’s dismal Champions Trophy exit on AB de Villiers, saying the captaincy was not the cause of the massive loss to India.

Also read: AB de Villiers’ thoughts: I’m still the man to lead the Proteas

Here’s what they had to say:

Mark Boucher (Former Proteas wicketkeeper and Titans head coach)

The 40-year-old  said the attention should rather be on why there were two key run outs in the middle-order, which saw both De Villiers (16) and David Miller (1) dismissed in the space of six deliveries.

“It obviously wasn’t great, especially the fact that we seem to be making the same mistakes, but I’m surprised by the stick AB is getting,” he said.

“And it’s a separate conversation when it comes to the captaincy and Faf du Plessis. The bottom line is that they did not score enough runs. No amount of decision-making is going to make up for that. It wasn’t due to the captaincy that we didn’t go through. It’s because we made totals of 219 and 191 against Pakistan and India. We just didn’t bat well enough.”

He added: “Maybe we get a bit frantic in pressure situations when we need calm heads and better communication, the senior players must take control. They have to regroup quickly otherwise it’s going to be a very long tour of England.”

Eric Simons (Former Proteas ODI bowler and national coach)

South Africa’s coach at the 2003 World Cup said the Proteas did not rely on their natural games when the pressure was on.

“The game was not lost because of the captaincy, or whether it should be AB or Faf. The run outs were a result of pressure and allowing the situation to get to them. Instead of Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock playing their natural games and dominating up front, they were a bit tentative and that all stacks up,” he said.

Andrew Hudson (Former Proteas opener and national convenor of selectors)

Hudson said he would not be looking to clip De Villiers’ wings if he was still in charge of selection.

“AB has been such a great player and servant of South African cricket. For a large part of his career he has been seriously committed,” he said.

“In my mind, he is playing a lot of cricket, there’s a lot of demands on him all around the world and South African cricket has got to try and keep him fresh to deliver his best.”

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