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Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) superstar AB de Villiers smacked five sixes en route to his unbeaten 42-ball 75 against Delhi Capitals (DC) on Tuesday. On being asked to name his favourite among the big hits, he chose the massive six off his fellow South African Kagiso Rabada – a thwack that sent the ball over deep midwicket.
It was yet another RCB victory architected by AB de Villiers, who won his 25th Player of the Match award in the tournament, the most by any player in IPL history. He also became the sixth cricketer to register 5,000 runs in the tournament and has taken the least number of balls to get to the mark.
The special knock by AB de Villiers helped RCB to 171 in a game they managed to narrowly win by a run. Stating that it’s not often that he gets the better of his world-class former South African teammate, De Villiers ranked his six off Kagiso Rabada as his personal favourite from the innings.
“The shot over extra cover (off the bowling of Marcus Stoinis) was certainly one of the best shots, no offence to KG (Kagiso Rabada), my shot off him one over midwicket was my best one. I don’t often get him away, but I’m happy I managed to get him away for that one,” said AB de Villiers in the post-match presentation.
Also see: IPL most sixes
Thanks to Yuzvendra Chahal, I talk more behind the stumps: AB de Villiers
Three years after his international retirement, AB de Villiers has been coping with the dual role of being RCB’s best batter and keeping wickets. He credited leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for making him more talkative behind the stumps.
“I forced myself to say a bit more behind the stumps, thanks to Yuzi, who urged me to do it,” he said.
Despite not playing top-level cricket for a while, AB de Villiers remains among the best batters in franchise cricket. Throwing light on his fitness regime and RCB’s good show this season, the 37-year-old added:
“It’s important to be fresh for every game. I worked out at home, and during the quarantine in the hotel room, we have treadmills in the room. Now it’s just about managing ourselves throughout the tournament and being fresh when we go out there to play.
“We have some experienced heads and some young Indian bowlers who have done well internationally recently. They come in with a lot of confidence. Myself, Virat Kohli and Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) chip in with some help when we can too,” concluded AB de Villiers.
With five wins out of their six matches, RCB are back at the top of the IPL 2021 points table. They will face the struggling Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Friday at the same venue in Ahmedabad.
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