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Cape Town - Star Proteas batsman AB de Villiers is "out to prove a point" after ruling himself out of three upcoming Test series.
De Villiers, who has recovered from an elbow injury, ruled himself out of the New Zealand (February), England (July-August) and Bangladesh (September-October) Test series.
If De Villiers plays in the Boxing Day Test against India later this year, he would have missed over 22 months of Test cricket - having played his last Test against England on January 26, 2016.
"Priorities have changed over the years; I've played for 12 odd years now," the 32-year-old De Villiers told reporters at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Wednesday.
"My role in the team has changed over the years.
"It's got nothing to do with disrespecting (New Zealand, England or Bangladesh), I just need more time to get myself ready for the end of year series and Australian series, and we’ll see where we go from there."
De Villiers stressed that he would not just slot back into the Proteas side, as he wants to make a comeback with good performances for the Titans.
"I'm not just going to walk back into the team," said De Villiers.
"It's very important to note that I'm very prepared to make my comeback by the Titans - score my runs and prove a point that I'm still good enough to make the Test team."
De Villiers, who has been in the Proteas set-up since 2004, admits that he still gets nervous and feels added pressure considering he has been out of the game for nearly seven months.
"I'm always nervous whether I'm in form or not," said De Villiers.
"With a break like this, obviously you'd want to prove that you can still play the game. I know all eyes will be on me and I'd like to prove that I can still play.
"There's definitely an added pressure, I'm really motivated to play well on Sunday and for my country."
On Sunday, De Villiers will play for Northerns in an amateur ODI game against Easterns in Benoni.
He will then join the Proteas on Wednesday for the third T20I against Sri Lanka at Newlands.
