De Villiers says he's nervous ahead of Sunday's first outing since shoulder injury

21 January 2017 - 14:13 By Mahlatse Mphahlele
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AB de Villiers.
AB de Villiers.
Image: Supplied

For a veteran of 106 Tests‚ 206 ODIs and 71 T20s‚ AB de Villiers was not convincing when he said he was nervous ahead of his appearance in a provincial match for Northerns against Easterns at Willowmoore Park on Sunday.

De Villiers has recovered from an elbow injury that required surgery and the encounter in Benoni is to get him ready for the third T20 against Sri Lanka in Cape Town next week.

Speaking in Centurion this week‚ De Villiers said he is always nervous ahead of matches.

“I am always nervous before cricket games‚" he said.

"After a long break like this you like to go out there and prove that you can still play the game.

"I know there will be a lot of eyes on me in that match. I can still hit the ball well and I would like to prove that I can still play.

"There is added pressure on me to perform but I have always played under pressure‚ and I am motivated to do well.”

De Villiers said though his injury has healed since he went under the knife three months‚ there are certain shots that he is not hitting as precise as he used to before the injury.

“Surgery happened three months ago but I am still aware of the shoulder.

"I can hit all the shots with the power that I used to but there is one or two shots that I feel are better than the others.

Generally‚ I am feeling confident and I have been hitting the ball very well in the nets. I am very excited to get going again.”

If De Villiers emerges from Benoni without any discomfort‚ he will play in the third T20 against Sri Lanka next week before captaining the ODI side in the five match series thereafter.

The first T20 was played in Centurion on Friday and it will be followed by the second outing at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The final match will be played at Newlands in Cape Town on Wednesday.

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