South Africa great de Villiers to play in Edgbaston Legends event

One of South Africa’s all-time greats, AB de Villiers, is set to make a cricketing comeback at Edgbaston this summer in the World Championship of Legends (WCL).

ICC Hall of Fame inductee de Villiers – who scored almost 10,000 runs for South Africa in Tests, ODIs and T20Is – retired from all forms of cricket in 2021.

But after nearly four years on the sidelines he’s set to play again after agreeing to lead the South Africa Champions side in the WCL which gets underway at Edgbaston on 18 July.

His South Africa side start their WCL campaign against West Indies Champions on 19 July in a double header Saturday that also sees the Ashes Legends when England take on Australia.

WCL tickets go on sale in a few days’ time and demand for some games is expected to be high. Fans can register their interest now at https://edgbaston.com/wcl.

De Villiers is determined to back a big impact on his eagerly-awaited comeback.

“I’m heading back to the gym and the nets, and I’ll be ready for the WCL in July,” said the 40-year-old, who played exclusively in the Indian Premier League for the Royal Challengers Bangalore from 2018 before retiring.

“Four years ago, I retired from all cricket because I just didn’t feel the urge to play anymore. Well, time has passed, and my young sons have started playing the game. We’ve been playing more and more often in the garden, and, well, it feels as though some kind of flame has been lit again.”

England Champions – featuring Moeen Ali – will get the tournament underway against Pakistan Champions on Friday 18 July at Edgbaston.

Other stars already committed to the tournament include Shahid Afridi, the Pakistan IT20 World Cup winning captain, Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed, plus India leg Spinner Piyush Chawla and white ball specialist Kedhar Jadhav.

Big hitting Suresh Raina and IPL star Shikhar Dhawan – IPL’s second top run scorer of all time and the first player to hit back-to-back centuries in the IPL – will aim to help India retain the WCL title after winning last year’s inaugural event.

Aussie speed king Brett Lee, IPL and PSL winner Dwayne Smith and fellow West Indies star Sheldon Cottrell – known for his iconic army salute wicket celebration – have also signed to appear in the competition.

Harshit Tomar, Founder and CEO of the World Championship of Legends, said: “We’ve said Season Two will be bigger and better than last year. And names don’t come much bigger than AB de Villiers.

“It will be very special to see him and our other legends locking horns again and rekindling old rivalries at Edgbaston.”

Almost 50,000 people attended Edgbaston last year for the inaugural event and were treated to thrilling cricket – stirring memories of classic clashes from the past – and some standout performances.

Edgbaston will stage the tournament’s first four group games (Fri 18 to Sun 20 July) before returning for the semi finals on 31 July and grand final on Saturday 2 August.

Fans can register interest now at https://edgbaston.com/wcl for all group games and the finals at Edgbaston.