'Graeme Smith could have easily dropped me, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn…': AB de Villiers' sincere appeal to Temba Bavuma

AB de Villiers is hooked to the television monitors even as he is interviewed by a select few reporters present at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg as the MI Cape Town are down to the last two overs of their innings against Joburg Super Kings in an SA20 match. In fact, for a moment, de Villiers lost track of the question he was that immersed in George Linde and Delano Potgieter. The two had come together at the fall of Hazmatullah Shahidi's wicket, leaving the score reading 75/6. With six and a half overs left, the manner in which Potgieter and Linde batted to add 64 crucial runs, remained unbeaten and took the total to 140 made de Villiers grin ear to ear. AB de Villiers has his say on South Africa's fate in WTC final(Getty)

His belief and confidence in the up-and-coming generation of the South African cricketers is such. Two evenings ago, Potgieter was in action stealing the show against defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape, scoring 25 not out from 12 balls and then picking up a five-wicket haul. And this was a bowler bowling for the first time in South Africa. When Potgieter gets a big break for the national team, it is something only time will tell, but as of now, he and many more are rubbing shoulders with some of the big names during the SA20.

Like many teams, South Africa, too, is in the middle of a transition period. But despite guys like Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee and Anrich Nortje being sidelined, the Proteas managed to win seven Tests in a row to qualify for the World Test Championship final. With five months to go for the final of the third WTC at Lord's against defending champion Australia, a lot can change, but one thing de Villiers wants to see is consistency in selection with the guys who have brought them here.

"The most important thing is to stick with the team that took them this far. 13, 14, 15 players, and build around it. That's what I had when I grew up in the Proteas side. Graeme Smith backed me. I wasn't always consistent in the first few years, but he stuck with me. And then finally, the team rebuilt. I got a lot more consistent. Quite a few others examples too, like Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn. The list goes on," de Villiers told The Hindustan Times during an interview.

"He could have easily dropped us players because we were inconsistent early on, but they stuck with the team they believed in and I feel the Proteas need to do the same. They've got a very special group of players together. Stick with each other. It may not always be rosey, but dig in."

A day after the legend and former captain Shaun Pollock blatantly refused to call South Africa favourite, de Villiers shares his sentiments. Despite winning the last 10 Tests out of 11, ABD reckons the team is undercooked against an all-rounder opposition like Australia, and as someone who's been part of South Africa's transition period in the mid-2000s, requested captain Temba Bavuma to follow suit.

"There's no doubt Australia are favourites. The Proteas have done exceptionally well. It shows you they are playing a positive brand of cricket. They are going for results; I love that about them. And not only the 7 wins in a row. Before that, there was one draw, and a bunch of wins again in a row before that. So it's like 10 out of 11 Test match wins. It's an incredible stat; doesn't happen often. And once again, credit's got to go to them, the coaching staff, the way they are approaching their cricket with Temba Bavuma as captain. He has taken a lot of criticism over the years but look where he is now, taken the team to the WTC final," de Villiers said further.

Why do South Africa not have the edge over South Africa in WTC final

reason why they are not favourites is because they are still very inexperienced. They haven't travelled to places like England of late, they haven't been to Australia. So travelling and experience come with time. Yes, they played well against Bangladesh, but it was only a 2-Test match series against not one of the best teams in the world. So now they are up against Australia at Lord's. A moving wicket. Against one of the best bowling attacks in the world and a batting line-up that bats deep. They all seem to be in form."

Then again, de Villiers hasn't lost faith entirely with the true Protea fire burning inside him. Given the institution of leadership Bavuma comes from, de Villiers likes every bit of what he sees of the SA captain and certain youngsters. Devid Bedingham, the 22-year-old, has played some crucial knocks against Sri Lanka and Pakistan but is far from bring a finished product.

"But I will never write my team off. They are a bunch of fighters, and Temba Bavuma mentioned 'I will take this team to war. Because I know they are going to fight for each other'. So if you have that kind of attitude, you can achieve anything. And I back the guys to go all the way and win this WTC final," mentioned ABD.

"Bedingham… I love what I see there. I think he still needs to work on the hard hands. He comes too hard at the ball. I feel he could leave a few good deliveries. He needs to be sort of more decisive and better with his shot selections, but when he gets going, it's very difficult to stop him. Beautiful on the eyes to watch."

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