AB de Villiers makes explosive revelations about Vernon Philander's World Cup selection in book

New Delhi: Star South African batsman AB de Villiers' soon to be launched autobiography has created quite a buzz in the cricketing circles.

Not often does a sports personality put out his/her autobiography before retiring.

Considering the right-hander's stature in the game, the demand for his new book is extremely encouraging.

Fans have great interest in understanding AB's personality beyond the field.

Fortunately for them, the world's best batsman has made quite a few revelations in the book.

According to a report in ESPNCricinfo, AB has revealed that the 2015 World Cup defeat against New Zealand was his "greatest disappointment".

Not just that, 32-year-old has also not shied away from addressing the controversial decision of the team management to bench Kyle Abbott in favor of Vernon Philander in that tournament.

According to AB, "other considerations" may have been made in picking Philander over Abbott for the critical semi-final.

Abbott was star of the show during the Proteas' win over Sri Lanka in Sydney and it was decided that an unchanged team would be played in the next match.

However at 5.30pm on the day before the semifinal, de Villiers claimed to have received a call informing him that Philander was fit and would replace Abbott.

"We had been assured that Cricket South Africa was the only national governing body in the country that had declined to set a target for the number of players of colour to be included in the national team but there was a delicate balance to be struck and it was generally understood that, as they chose the side, the national selectors would be conscious of providing opportunities for at least four players of colour," de Villiers said.

"So what had happened? Had Vernon, who was officially classified as coloured, been selected ahead of Kyle, who was officially white, to ensure there were four players of colour in the semi-final? Or had the decision been made for purely cricketing reasons?"

However, AB also admitted that the match was not lost due to this one change.

"We didn't lose because of the decision to replace Kyle with Vernon," he added.