One of the giants in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been the South Africa legend AB de Villiers, who was the pillar of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for many seasons.
The focus was mainly on Virat Kohli’s 973-run season in 2016 when the Bengaluru franchise lost the final against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, AB de Villiers also contributed with 687 runs in 16 innings of that edition at an average of 52.84 and a strike rate of 168.79, with six half-centuries and one century.
It was Ab de Villiers, who stood at one end during RCB’s struggle with 29/5 inside the powerplay in a 159-run chase at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium during the first qualifier of the IPL 2016 against the Gujarat Lions (GL).
The former SA captain ended with an unbeaten 79 runs in 47 balls at a strike rate of 168.09, shouldering on five boundaries and five sixes.
‘I don’t think Ab de Villiers has achieved anything’ – Gautam Gambhir
In the history of the league, Ab de Villiers is the second-highest run-getter for RCB, with 4522 runs in 145 innings at an average of 41.10 and a strike rate of 158.33.
A few days ago, the veteran questioned the body language of Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, as he seemed to be walking in the field for the game, like he hadn’t been himself for a while.
Former India opener and the current Kolkata Knight Riders mentor, Gautam Gambhir has smashed Ab de Villiers for the latter’s such comments on the India all-rounder.
In a recent interview session, Gambhir fired up on Ab de Villiers’s role as a captain when he was part of the RCB team for 10 years from 2011 to 2021.
“What was his own performance when he was the captain? I don’t think, be it Kevin Pietersen or AB de Villiers, they had any performance in their career with leadership,” Gautam Gambhir expressed in an interview.
“Nothing if you pick and see their records. I don’t think AB de Villiers has achieved anything in the IPL apart from his own scores. I don’t think he has achieved anything from a team’s point of view,” Gambhir remarked on Ab de Villiers.
‘Those experts should see their own performances’ – Gautam Gambhir
Under the leadership of Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians won four fixtures out of 13 games in this IPL 2024 and are at the penultimate position in this year’s IPL. They also became the first team to be eliminated from the 17th season of the competition.
However, Gambhir reminded everyone that under Hardik Pandya Gujrat became the champions in the 2022-season, and finished as the runners-up against the Chennai Super Kings in the last edition.
The left hander batter believes that Hardik has been taking time to make a return in the MI set-up after his two-year tenure with the Gujarat Titans, and there are many reasons expect Pandya’s captaincy behind the poor performance of the Mumbai Indians.
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“Give him (Hardik) a bit more time. Judging him every day in every match and every time is not right. Those experts should see their own performances when they have captained a side,” the veteran predicted.
“It’s probably worse than any other leader. Ultimately it’s the performance and today Mumbai Indians have not performed well so everyone is talking about it.”
Hardik Pandya will have a great chance to end the season on a high when Mumbai Indians will take on the visiting Lucknow Super Giants in their last league game, on May 17, at the Wankhede Stadium.