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Cape Town - Former Proteas captain AB de Villiers believes that the national side under Faf du Plessis is moving in the right direction heading into next year's World Cup.
De Villiers, who captained the Proteas to the semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup, retired from all international cricket this year in a move that stunned the South African cricket public.
The 34-year-old is considered one of the best stroke players in the game and the decision came as a blow to the Proteas' chances in England next year.
Since then, however, the ODI side has done a good job of building momentum and the most recent return was a 2-1 series win in Australia in which the visitors were dominant.
De Villiers still watches the developments of the national side with interest and while he is not contemplating a return, he does acknowledge that he misses being a part of the set-up.
"I miss the guys. It's great to watch them, especially when they do well like that. I was very proud to watch them perform like that. Going to Australia is never easy," he said at the launch of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) in Cape Town on Thursday.
"David Miller put up an Instagram post the other day about how dynamic the team is and that's exactly what it looks like from the outside.
"They're moving forward, they look fresh, we find ways of getting wickets and we find ways of putting runs on the board. It really holds us in good dead moving forward to the World Cup."
De Villiers blasted 93 off just 31 balls in an MSL warm-up match on Tuesday and he is the obvious main attraction of the tournament.
"I'm taking the mindset of just enjoying my cricket for as long as it lasts ... hopefully for a couple more years or so," he said.
"I'm not feeling any nerves, I've just been working on my game for the last two months. I'm hitting the ball almost better than ever, which is weird, so maybe the break did me well."
The competition gets underway on Friday when the Cape Town Blitz hosts De Villiers' Tshwane Spartans at Newlands.
