Quinton de Kock has revealed AB de Villiers was "definitely in line" to play for South Africa in the T20 World Cup this year.
Proteas legend De Villiers retired from international cricket in 2018 but has made no secret of his desire to make a comeback.
The T20 World Cup was due to start in Australia in October but on Monday was officially postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
South Africa white-ball skipper De Kock says 36-year-old batsman De Villiers was on course to feature in the tournament if it had gone ahead as scheduled.
The wicketkeeper-batsman told the Cricket Connected show on Star Sports: "He was definitely in line. If fit, I would have loved to have AB de Villiers.
"I think any team would have loved to have AB de Villiers in their team. While we were pushing for him, now we will have to see when the T20 World Cup is going to happen now."
De Villiers last played for his country in the shortest format in October 2017.
Only JP Duminy has scored more T20 runs for the Proteas than De Villiers' tally of 1,672 from 75 innings, including 10 half-centuries.
