"You can't say you want to make a comeback now" - Rassie van der Dussen slams AB de Villiers' World Cup plea

The retired South Africa batsman asked to be part of the 15-man squad for the tournament on the eve of the party being announced but was turned down

Rassie van der Dussen has attacked AB de Villiers' attempts to force his way into South Africa's World Cup squad on the eve of the 15-man squad being confirmed.

The 35-year-old is understood to have approached captain Faf du Plessis, head coach Ottis Gibson and convenor of selectors Linda Zondi with the offer to end his international retirement, which he entered last year.

But the plea, which was made public after The Proteas had lost their opening three World Cup matches, was rejected with the squad having already been finalised.

Van der Dussen, who has been one of the country's stand-out performers amid their winless start to the competition with scores of 50, 41 and 22 with the bat, would likely have been the man to make way had De Villiers been indulged.

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"It's not necessarily your best question to ask me, because I am involved in it and had he not retired it would have influenced me directly," said the 30-year-old.

"You can't, on the day before when the squad has been working for longer than a year, come and say you want to make a comeback now.

"I'm not saying that he was wrong or right ... but it would have set a difficult precedent, not necessarily a wrong one, because he is still one of the best batsmen in the world.

"I just think it was maybe handled not in the correct way from his side.

"I believe that Ottis and Faf gave him opportunities to manage his workloads going into the World Cup because they wanted him to play the World Cup.

"He had a fair chance to manage that and he said 'no' and that he was happy to retire, and that's fair enough. Faf accepted it and Ottis accepted it and they stood by it."

De Villiers is regarded as one of the greatest white-ball batsmen of all time, averaging 53.50 in one-day internationals, with 25 centuries.

^{News that De Villiers wanted to return came after South Africa lost their opening three World Cup matches}

Since beginning his self-imposed international exile he has paraded himself around several franchise T20 leagues including the Indian Premier League, where he has represented Royal Challengers Bangalore since 2011.

"I wasn't surprised," said Van der Dussen said of De Villiers' request.

"I wasn't surprised that he would want to make a comeback on the world's biggest stage.

"It's something the world's biggest stars have in common is that they want to perform when the pressure is on and the stage at its biggest.

"Did it affect me? No. I'm quite happy to be mentioned in the same sentence as AB.

"He is one of the best there's ever been. Do I have to replace him? I don't feel I do. Can I play match-winning innings for my country? I think I can."

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