Quote:One thing is certain, there is no team in the long history of the game that would not welcome De Villiers, one of the game’s best, to their ranks. With due respect to the likes of Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Chris Lynn and Chris Gayle, the South African is probably the game’s foremost batting virtuoso. There is no current batsman more capable of unleashing a fusillade of thrilling strokes in every direction. And the times he’s been at the crease since his return to action shows he has hardly missed a beat.

Infinitely skilled, he has shown as much composure battling Mitchell Johnson at his quickest and most intimidating in 2013 as he has unlocking the mysteries of Ravichandran Ashwin on deceitful surfaces in India in 2015. To watch him at his best, in whichever format, is to experience the gratification one gets watching a master craftsman plying his trade.

It is no wonder, then, that some followers of the game have expressed acute disappointment, even anger, at AB de Villiers’indecisiveness over his future in Tests. There has been talk that the batsman is somehow selfish; that rather than being concerned about what is best for his country, he is concerned only about his own preferences; that he’d rather chase after T/20 dough, thereby depriving South Africa of his eminent capabilities as a Test batsman.

But are we being fair to De Villiers when we think along those lines? Many of us seem to think that sportsmen are there only for our entertainment and have little right to self-actualization. We believe that like performers in a circus they are there to perform only for our pleasure. We seem to think that De Villiers has no right to give up Tests, if that’s his desire, thereby depriving us of the pleasure of viewing him in that format. Perhaps we are the selfish ones.