That Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers are geniuses of the T20 game is well known. Delhi Daredevils skipper Gautam Gambhir knows it all too well himself with his team being on the receiving end of a mauling from the latter in their defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore in an IPL clash on Saturday.
Writing for his column in the Times of India, the Daredevils skipper commented: “On current form Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers can even help us decoding GST (General Service Tax) and its implications. Or, convince the North Korean president from removing that button from that desk.
“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 Delhi Daredevils’ case my inference was that on Saturday we lost the game to De Villiers and not Royal Challengers Bangalore.”
After AB de Villiers’ stunning 90no innings, @benstokes38 has a solution to get him out #VIVOIPL2018 https://t.co/Fnh1hXm6Oe
— Sport360° (@Sport360) April 22, 2018
De Villiers had played a blinder of an innings in Bangalore’s win with the South African ace smashing five sixes and 10 boundaries during his stay at the crease. Having seen first-hand the destruction De Villiers can cause, Gambhir believes that there is a method to the Proteas stalwart’s unbelievable hitting of the cricket ball.
“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,” the 36-year-old wrote in his column.
