AB De Villiers was simply phenomenal in the eliminator against the Rajasthan Royals. De Villiers came in when the Royal Challengers were struggling to get a move on. De Villiers then like a magician rescued his team from a dreadful situation and along with Mandeep Singh, piled misery for the Royals. It was solely due to De Villiers that the men in red got to a healthy total.
Post the game, De Villiers admitted that it will be really difficult for the Royal Challengers to defeat CSK in Ranchi in the second qualifier. The crowd support will be with Chennai for sure, as it is skipper Dhoni’s home ground.
De Villiers was quoted saying, “It is going to be a very difficult match. We know that CSK are a very good and tough team to beat. We would love to go to Ranchi and beat them. It would be amazing if we can then go a step further and win the trophy. Right now we have to take it step by step.”
De Villiers also showered praises on Mandeep Singh for allowing him to settle down early in his innings against the Royals. “To be very honest I didn’t play very well today. I have to give all credit to Mandeep Singh for the way he played. It was not as fluent a knock as I wanted it to be but I guess it all comes with experience. I struggled in the first few overs but I fought through it and I was lucky to be there in the end to express myself.”
The down to earth South African also mentioned that he took pleasure in developing talent for the Royal Challengers. “What would life be without having a good influence on other people? That is what it is all about. I am trying to make a positive influence on some young players in the team and if Mandeep says I have, it makes me a very happy man. It feels like I am achieving my goal, which ultimately is to make a positive contribution to the lives of people around me.” “What impresses me the most about Mandeep is that he has a very cool head over his shoulders and he makes good decisions under pressure.”