IPL 2021 | AB de Villiers is RCB's runaway match-winner: Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra has said AB de Villiers has been phenomenal for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) over the years and is their runaway match-winner.

De Villiers is the second-highest run-scorer for RCB in IPL history, his 4178 runs for the franchise only bettered by the 5878 amassed by Virat Kohli. The South African genius was also one of the success stories for RCB in IPL 2020, having scored 454 runs at an average of 45.40 and a strike rate of 158.74.

Most Runs for a team in IPL history:-5878: Virat Kohli (RCB)4527: Suresh Raina (CSK)4178: AB de Villiers (RCB)4060: Rohit Sharma (MI)4058: MS Dhoni (CSK)3819: David Warner (SRH)3163: Chris Gayle (RCB)#IPL2021

— ComeOn Sports 🇮🇳 (@ComeOn_Sports) March 31, 2021

During a discussion on Star Sports, Aakash Chopra responded in the negative when asked if AB de Villiers should be approaching the season any differently considering the pressure on the big names to help their franchise win the title.

"Why does he have to do anything different? He has been absolutely phenomenal, he is their runaway match-winner. If you were to look at all the games they have won over the last 3-5 years, you will find that AB de Villiers has walked away with the most number of Man of the Match awards as well," said Chopra.

The former India cricketer added that AB de Villiers has always played match-defining knocks and should continue doing so.

"He plays those kinds of innings, those impact contributions come from AB de Villiers. So more of the same, don't change much. Everybody else is going to play a certain way, AB will definitely play a certain way," added Chopra.

AB de Villiers was the Player of the Match in three out of RCB's seven wins in IPL 2020. His dismantling of Jaydev Unadkat in the penultimate over of their chase against the Rajasthan Royals was one of the most memorable knocks of last season's IPL.

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"AB de Villiers should just hit the ground running" - Aakash Chopra

AB de Villiers will come into the IPL with very little cricket behind him

Aakash Chopra believes that the only thing De Villers needs to do is be aggressive from the start and play his natural game.

"The only thing is that he should just hit the ground running, keep firing and if the trophy has to come to the cabinet it will," said Chopra.

Bold Diaries: AB de Villiers joins the RCB team in Chennai On @myntra presents Bold diaries, catch the first reactions of @ABdeVilliers17 upon his arrival in Chennai for #IPL2021 #PlayBold #WeAreChallengers pic.twitter.com/o1GTdhnFbI

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) April 1, 2021

The former KKR player concluded by stating that AB de Villiers has performed to his utmost potential whenever he has played for RCB and the franchise has been found wanting in other areas.

"I don't think AB de Villiers can do an inch more than whatever he has done so far. If that was not enough to win a trophy, I think the problem is not with AB, the problem lies elsewhere," signed off Chopra.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore have primarily been let down by their bowlers in the IPL. Although their bowlers did a decent job in IPL 2020, the lack of support for the trio of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Devdutt Padikkal proved to be a stumbling block for the team.