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AB de Villiers says he is missing the Twenty20s to be able to play the Tests against New Zealand © Getty Images
AB de Villiers has pulled out of South Africa's Twenty20 internationals at home against New Zealand in December, citing the need for extra rest before the Tests in January. Justin Ontong, the Cape Cobras captain, has been called into the squad.
"It's been an exhausting few months and I feel that I need some extra rest before the Test series," De Villiers said. It's for this reason that I have put in the request and I'm grateful to the team management for supporting this decision."
When the squad was announced on December 13, South Africa's selectors had named Faf du Plessis as captain in order to reduce the workload on de Villiers, who was included as a player.
"AB is obviously an important part of our set-up and while we would've loved him to be part of the T20 series, we also need him fully fit and energised for the remainder of the summer," South Africa's Twenty20 coach Russell Domingo said.
Revised Twenty20 squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Henry Davids, Quinton de Kock, Justin Ontong, Rory Kleinveldt, Richard Levi, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.