Sachin Tendulkar believes AB de Villiers is at the peak of his career

Tendulkar claimed that De Villiers is “batting unbelievably well”

Sachin Tendulkar has heaped lavish praise on AB de Villiers claiming that the South African ODI skipper is “batting unbelievably well” and believes he is at the peak of his career, ESPNCricinfo reports. The Master Blaster also advised the Indian cricket fans to be more patient with the national team and believes that the ODI rule changes are to blame for high totals being posted on a consistent basis.

South Africa won their first ever bilateral series in India defeating the hosts by 214 runs in the fifth and final ODI at Mumbai after they had posted a huge total of 438 batting first. Though the Indian bowlers, especially the fast bowling duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma, came in for huge criticism following the heavy defeat, Tendulkar believes it was the outstanding batting by the South Africans which tilted the match in their favour.

The trio of AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis who scored centuries came in for praise from Tendulkar while he singled out De Villiers for his remarkable run of form.

"I felt that South Africa batted really well. I wouldn't want to take away credit away from de Kock, du Plessis and de Villiers. I thought de Villiers batted really well,” Tendulkar said. “I was watching a little bit and Shaun Pollock kept saying he has not shifted to sixth and seventh gear. It was rightly so, he has figured out how to pace his innings and he did it beautifully. I would give credit to the way he batted.

"Maybe he is possibly at the peak of his career. He is really, really batting unbelievably well and it seems that he has got more time than anyone else."

Tendulkar feels ODI rule changes are to blame for high totals

With scores in excess of 300 in ODIs no longer being a matter of surprise, Tendulkar believes the rule changes that allows only four fielders to be posted outside the 30-yard circle and the advent of T20 cricket have invariably allowed batting teams to post huge totals in the 50-over format. He cited instances in Australia to validate his point.

"It is the rules which have made all the difference. When I played, I remember the four-fielder rule was there throughout the 50 overs and in the Powerplay you could change your field but here more or less (for) all 50 overs the rule changed. You could only have four fielders outside and that definitely put more pressure on the bowlers," Tendulkar said.

"With four fielders outside the circle the batsman has more option of scoring runs in boundaries, the batsmen who are prepared to take more risks. That is also to do with the T20 format, the batsmen have been practising certain shots which earlier nobody would play.

"The statistics itself show that in the last three years, the amount of matches played in Australia, you see the number of times teams have gone 320-plus. In the last 20 years, they have not done that and in the last two years if you are able to do it then (it) is definitely to do with the laws," he added.

Tendulkar disappointed with Indian cricket fans

Tendulkar was also disappointed with the reactions of the Indian fans post the defeat at Mumbai and advised them to be more patient with the team.

"We have a very good team. Each team will go through phases. There will be patches where you will play well and there will be tough phases where things will get really difficult and things won't go to your plans. But that doesn't mean that every weekend you pass a judgment on your team.

"When they do well you say 'wow they have done really well' and the following week if they don't do well you start criticising them. I think we need to show more balance. We all are passionate about cricket and we need to be patient also," Tendulkar said.