NEW DELHI: Delhi Daredevils find themselves at the bottom of the points tally after enduring their fourth defeat in five games – the latest coming at the hands of Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore, but DD skipper Gautam Gambhir felt that on Saturday his team lost the game to AB de Villiers, and not to RCB.
De Villiers blew away the DD attack with a whirlwind knock of unbeaten 90 off just 39 deliveries and the former Indian skipper said that it is near impossible to stop the South African with the kind of form he is in.
Writing in his column for TOI, Gambhir opined that players like De Villiers and Chris Gayle, who scored a 38-ball 62 on Saturday against KKR, are geniuses who don’t wait for a stage.
“On current form Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers can even help us decoding GST and its implications. Or, convince the North Korean president from removing that button from that desk,” wrote Gambhir adding, “Such was their genius on Saturday that it seemed they were the ones setting fields, then telling bowlers what and where to bowl and finally hit the ball as if ordering a drink. In DD’s case my inference was that on Saturday we lost the game to De Villiers and not RCB.”
During his knock, De Villiers hit 10 fours and five sixes, but the DD skipper sees a method to his madness.
“From the outside it may seem mad hitting, but if you look closely, you can spot a method too. When he first came in De Villiers attacked Shahbaz Nadeem with slog-sweeps. To fast bowlers, he’d jump outside the off stump, form a strong base and hit it anywhere between extra-cover to fine leg. All this with a head so still that you can place a cup of tea on it and go to a toilet. Such was the De Villiers magic that he paled off outstanding knocks by Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer,” said the 36-year-old.
Despite the lack of positive results, Gambhir is confident that his team will fight back.
“Personally and also as a team we are struggling. But I am optimistic. There is talent in our dressing room. I was glad to see Chris Morris turning up the heat, the snarl was back. (Glenn) Maxwell is due for a big one, Shreyas is a big tick for us. We are in Delhi now and hopefully the familiar environs will work,”wrote Gambhir.
Praising the young Pant, the skipper wrote, “Rishabh is a special talent. He not only has the ability to hit good balls but is a marketer’s delight too. The six that he hit in the 18th over off Mohammed Siraj’s slower ball on a sluggish wicket can help the IPL broadcaster justify their exorbitant rights fees! He and Sanju Samson seem to me the first super stars of India’s IPL generation. But like any expensive porcelain come with handle-with-extreme care tag.”