5 Things India need to do to counter the AB de Villiers threat

#5 Be aggressive

Aggresive bowling can kill De Villiers’ flow

The one adage with great batsmen is getting them early. AB de Villiers has been dismissed 58 times before reaching 20. That ratio is lower than that of Sachin Tendulkar or Ricky Ponting in De Villiers’ defence.

It means, it is not easy to get him early. But, it is also noted that he is out bowled, caught behind or LBW quite a bit early in the innings. It is important therefore to be aggressive to De Villiers and attack him with the best bowlers. Like Wahab Riaz showed in the World Cup, De Villiers has a weakness against genuinely aggressive bowling.

That is because he doesn’t tone down against aggressive bowlers. He counter-attacks and therein lies the best opportunity to get him. Aggression also means clarity. The bowler must know if he wants to bowl very full or very short.

Anywhere mid-way and De VIlliers can thwack them, considering he lofts and pulls good length balls at will, manufacturing them from crazy angles by using the entire crease extremely well and in the last moment.