In a setback for Cricket Australia, South African ace AB de Villiers has reportedly pulled out of negotiations for a future stint in the Big Bash League (BBL).
Cricket Australia, the BBL franchises and broadcasters had come together to rope in the former Proteas batsman as a marquee player for the T20 league with a package deal of A$350,000 reportedly mooted to tempt the South African.
35-year-old AB de Villiers has been concentrating on T20 franchise tournaments ever since his shock retirement from international cricket. The right-handed batsman has recently played in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the Indian Premier League (IPL).
As of a few weeks ago, de Villiers remained interested in working out a possible deal with almost every BBL franchise expressing their interest in securing his services.
AB de Villiers in action for RCB in IPL 2019. Image – BCCI/SPORTZPICS.
However, according to a report by the News Corp, the 35-year-old batsman has now cooled down his interest in joining the league for the 2019-20 edition.
Cricket Australia and its partners have been attempting to raise the popularity of the T20 competition with the board recently raising the limit for overseas players per franchise to six. Previously, each franchise was only allowed to contract two overseas players in its roster.
Now, teams will be allowed to sign six foreign players over the course of the BBL although they will still be permitted to keep only two of them in their 18-man roster at any particular stage.
Along with de Villiers, the BBL franchises have also expressed an interest in bringing big-hitting West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell to the league following his stupendous displays in the recently concluded 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL).
