AB de Villiers inclusion in the World Cup would have set a bad example: Van der Dussen
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|| Desk Report ||
South African middle order batsman Van der Dussen believes it would have set a bad example if AB de Villiers was included in the World Cup squad just before the World Cup.
Dussen was the replacement of Villiers after he announced his retirement from the national team.
"It's not necessarily the best question to ask to me because I am involved in it but had he not retired it definitely would have influenced me directly," he said.
Dussen believes it would have been unfair to the other members of the squad, who have been playing for one year and trying their best to get into the World Cup squad.
"But you can't, on the day before the announcement and a team that's been working for something for year and even longer than a year, come and say, 'I want to make a comeback now'. I am not saying he was wrong or he was right; so don't misquote me. But it would have set a difficult example. not necessarily a wrong one” Dussen added.
But regardless of this Van der Dussen has immense respect for his former captain, as he thinks the situation may not have handled correctly from Villiers' side.
“ It's still AB, he is still one of the best players in the world - I just think it was handled maybe not in the correct way from his side," he added.
Dussen also said that Villers had enough chance to make it into the World Cup. The coach and the captain gave him the opportunity to make it to the final squad of the World Cup. But AB blew it by saying he is happy to retire and it’s not right to include someone in the squad just before the World Cup.
Ottis and Faf gave him opportunities to, say, 'Let's manage your workload going into the World Cup because we want you to play a World Cup'. He had a fair chance to manage that and he said no and that he is happy to retire and that's fair enough. And Faf accepted it, Ottis accepted it and they stood by it," van der Dussen said.
