After dropping their first three matches, South Africa's backs were against the wall. They needed to win all their six matches and were in a spot of bother against West Indies. They were reduced to 29/2 in the eighth over when rain intervened and the umpires had to call off the match.
This now leaves South Africa in a precarious position and their chances of making it to semi-finals look very grim. This comes after news broke about AB de Villiers wanting to come out of retirement and play in the World Cup.
Captain Faf du Plessis has finally broken his silence on this issue. He conceded that he did receive a call from de Villiers, who is also his very close friend, but had to turn down the offer since it was too late for any adjustments.
Speaking to reporters at the press conference after the rain washed out the tie against West Indies, the 34-year-old said: "It was just a conversation, a phone call the night before the team got announced. It was just a 'this is what I'm feeling' [phone call]."
'Way too late to change the squad'
"I said to him, 'I think it is too late but I will check in with the coach and the selectors the next morning.' When I spoke to the coach and the selectors, they all agreed that it was way, way too late to change the team on 99.99 percent," Faf added.
It has not been a happy dressing room for South Africa, they have lost matches, players have dropped out due to injury and then this AB de Villiers newsbreak. However, the skipper believes that this development had no effect on the South African dressing room.
"We do feel like the news came in and went through the team. It didn't have a huge impact. There was just a discussion on clarity and on making sure everyone knows what's going on and then it was moving on," he said.
So will this incident and the subsequent results have any bearing on the friendship they share? Not according to Faf as he believes their friendship goes back a long way and such small incidents will not have any effect on it.
