CAPE TOWN: South Africa have released captain A.B. de Villiers from their One-day International squad in Bangladesh ahead of the three-match series starting in Mirpur on Friday.

De Villiers was suspended for the opening match of the series as punishment for maintaining a slow over rate during the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in March.

“A.B.’s presence and contributions will be missed, but we have a hectic playing schedule this season and we felt this would be a great opportunity to develop the next tier of batters during this series, like we are doing with our bowlers,” coach Russell Domingo said in a press release from Cricket South Africa on Tuesday.

“We would also like to give him the peace of mind of being close to his wife with the imminent birth of his first child.”

Test skipper Hashim Amla, who is vice-captain in the 50-over format, will lead the side.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2015

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