AB de Villers keeps surprising his fans with his superlative displays. The 37-year-old has been one of the star performers in the IPL over the years. He left the cricket fans and commentators including Harsha Bhogle awestruck once again as he hammered 76 runs off just 34 balls to help RCB cross the 200 run mark and set up a daunting target of 205 runs for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the 10th match of IPL 2021.
His range of strokeplay was on full display as he hammered the ball all over the place. His wonderful batting against Andre Russell, who had impressed as a death bowler in the last game against Mumbai, was the highlight of his knock. The former South African skipper blasted 36 runs of Russell’s two overs at the fag end of RCB’s innings.
Impressed by his knock, Harsha Bhogle, one of the finest voices in cricket, made a bold statement as he asked South Africa to make a place for ABD in this year’s T20 World Cup squad scheduled to be held in India in October-November.
Surely South Africa, you have to find a way to play @ABdeVilliers17 in the #T20WorldCup. Surely.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 18, 2021
ABD hung up his boots in May 2018 and has only featured in T20s ever since playing for different franchises. South Africa’s reputation has suffered ever since the retirement of AB de Villiers. They were knocked out in the league stages of the 2019 ODI World Cup. Recently, they were beaten comprehensively by the visitors Pakistan in the four-match T20I series as their youngsters failed to get going. The likes of Henrich Klaasen have been inconsistent in the middle order for South Africa. They need an experienced head alongside David Miller to shore up their batting line up.
It will be interesting to see if AB returns from his retirement and plays the upcoming T20 World Cup. The star performer from South Africa is yet to lift a major trophy with the Proteas. Cricket fans would be desperate for his return.
