IPL 2018: Gautam Gambhir Feels There is a 'Method' to AB de Villiers' Hitting Prowess

Delhi Daredevils (DD) skipper Gautam Gambhir admits that there is some method to AB de Villiers hitting, who is in the red-hot form, for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB, in the ongoing Indian Premier League’s (IPL) eleventh edition.

Meanwhile, Daredevils found themselves languishing in the bottom of the IPL 2018 points table with four loss from five games. The latest came against RCB when de Villiers took the game away with a blistering knock of 90 runs.

Gambhir felt that on Saturday (April 21) his team lost the game to de Villiers’ splendid effort, and not to RCB.

“On current form, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers can even help us decoding GST and its implications. Or, convince the North Korean president from removing that button from that desk,” Gambhir wrote on TOI.

“Such was their genius on Saturday that it seemed they were the ones setting fields, then telling bowlers what and where to bowl and finally hit the ball as if ordering a drink. In DD’s case my inference was that on Saturday we lost the game to De Villiers and not RCB,” he added.

There is a method to AB’s madness: Gambhir

During his knock, De Villiers struck 10 fours and five sixes, but the Daredevils’ skipper Gambhir sees a method to his blitzkrieg.

“From the outside, it may seem mad hitting, but if you look closely, you can spot a method too. When he first came in De Villiers attacked Shahbaz Nadeem with slog-sweeps. To fast, bowlers, he’d jump outside the off stump, form a strong base and hit it anywhere between extra-cover to fine leg. All this with a head so still that you can place a cup of tea on it and go to a toilet. Such was the De Villiers magic that he paled off outstanding knocks by Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer,” Gambhir noted.

Despite a poor start, Gambhir is confident that his team will bounce back. He also lauded young southpaw Rishabh Pant, who has set the tournament on fire with his smart hitting.

Meanwhile, Delhi takes on Kings XI Punjab on April 23 (Monday) at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi.

Also, read: Here is how Twitter reacted to Jofra Archer’s magical debut