He Is A Real Option: Mike Hesson On The Possibility Of AB De Villiers Keeping Wickets In IPL 2021

Former New Zealand head coach and the current Director of Cricket at Royal Challengers Bangalore Mike Hesson has said that superstar South African cricketer AB de Villiers donning the wicketkeeping gloves in the upcoming season remains a distinct possibility following a fruitful stint behind the wickets last year.

AB de Villiers kept wickets in a few matches last season and with RCB no longer having the services of Parthiv Patel and Joshua Phillippe, it looks like the former Proteas captain may don the gloves this year as well.

Hesson, however, pointed out other options in the form of KS Bharat and Mohammed Azharuddeen that RCB have in their squad.

“We were delighted with the fact that Ab de Villiers loved wicketkeeping and he embraced it. He wanted to continue doing it, he is a real option, we now have a couple of other wicketkeeping options which is great. Mohammed Azharuddeen is a natural athlete with the gloves and in the field. We also have KS Bharat, he is a natural keeper, gives us different options as well,” said Mike Hesson in a video posted on the official Twitter handle of RCB.

“We are not going to make the commitment now to you guys as to who will do what. We are really pleased with the options we have got and AB is certainly one of those,” he added.

The Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore will kickstart their IPL 2021 campaign on the opening day of the season (April 09) when they lock horns with defending champions Mumbai Indians in Chennai.

Hesson informed that AB de Villiers will be joining the set-up on March 28.

”We have got players arriving all the way through till April 1. Finn Allen will be playing in T20I in New Zealand on April 1 and then he will come the day after… ABD arrives on 28,” he said.

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