IPL 2021: Why Don’t You Send Him To Open The Batting - Sunil Gavaskar Wishes To See AB de Villiers Bat For 20 Overs

Former India captain, Sunil Gavaskar was effusive in praise of AB de Villiers after he once again carried the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s batting on his back on Tuesday.

Against the Delhi Capitals, de Villiers lifted the team from 114-4 to 171/5 as he blasted 75 runs off 42 balls, including 23 runs off the last over from Marcus Stoinis. de Villiers’ innings proved to be just enough as RCB won by just a single run.

Sunil Gavaskar says that he would love to see the “genius” bat for 20 overs and that RCB maybe could open with the former South African batsman.

“When you see a genius like that, you want to go and just watch him carry on. You want to say to the opposition – ‘Listen, why don’t you send him to open the batting because we can get to see more of him rather than him coming in the 10th or the 11th over. Let’s see 20 overs of ABD’, that’s what I, as a former batsman, always say when I see AB de Villiers in this kind of form,” Sunil Gavaskar said while speaking with Star Sports.

He makes your jaw drop with the kind of audacity: Sunil Gavaskar

Sunil Gavaskar lavished more praise on AB de Villiers, who has had a significant hand in RCB’s three out of five victories this season. His 48 off 27 versus Mumbai Indians helped the side complete a last-ball run-chase, while his knocks of 76* off 34 against Kolkata Knight Riders and 75* off 42 against Delhi helped post a winnable total.

The 71-year-old observed that de Villiers is not all about power and muscle but finesse and subtlety in his shots too which makes his “jaw drop” looking at the audacity of the former Portea skipper.

“It’s amazing. It’s just magical. You can walk around the earth, just to see this man bat because he brings in so much. He gives you so much joy, he makes your jaw drop with the kind of audacity with which he plays some shots.

“We talk about the big sixes. There was one shot where he just opened the face of the bat and ramped the ball down to the third man. That was an incredible shot because it was hit literally at the last second when he opened the face of the bat,” Sunil Gavaskar asserted.

With the victory over the Capitals, RCB climbs back to the top of the table with 5 wins in their bag. They will next face KL Rahul’s Punjab Kings on Friday.

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