Former India opener feels that AB de Villiers is the only batsman who can successfully take on Jasprit Bumrah. The pacer has evolved to be one of the best bowlers in the world and gained his reputation through the shortest format of the game.
While AB de Villiers put an end to his international cricket career, he has shown that he has not lost his touch at all with his exploits in franchise cricket. The wicket-keeper batsman is still at his lethal best and holds his reputation of power and innovative hitting.
A conundrum similar to a battle between an unstoppable force against an immovable object arises whenever a battle between the two players is pondered. Gambhir feels that Bumrah can get the best of any batsman, but feels that the Proteas ace can still be able to take him on. Speaking on Star Sports, he labelled de Villiers as a ‘freak and said:
‘He’s (Virat) got people like AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell, which is a huge cushion to have. Even if it’s not Maxwell, AB is a massive cushion because there is only one person who can take on someone like Jasprit Bumrah and it is AB de Villiers. I have not seen anyone else who has done that consistently against Bumrah, but AB is a freak,’
If you don’t win that pressure keeps on increasing: Gautam Gambhir
The two-time IPL winning captain added that the pressure will be on Kohli to deliver as captain to end the franchise’s run of 13 years without a title. He also spoke about the tricky prospect of using bowlers in the IPL, which does not boast the uniform quality as such found in International cricket. He added:
“You probably get two or three international bowlers and then you’ve got domestic bowlers as well, whom you could dominate. So, probably there’s a lot of pressure on Virat and AB as well, which could be one of the reasons and year after year if you don’t win that pressure keeps on increasing as well,”
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will open their campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Abu Dhabi on September 20. The team are currently placed in the points table only below Delhi Capitals (DC) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
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