Dubai: South African batsman AB de Villiers has said he has pleasantly surprised himself by striking form in his very first IPL game. AB de Villiers stated that he has been out of action for nearly eight months. So for him striking form was a matter of great elation. De Villiers’ sparkling 51-run knock helped RCB post a fighting total of 163 for five against SRH Monday night.
It was ABD’s first competitive T20 game since he played for Brisbane Heat during the Big Bash League in January this year.
“I surprised myself to be honest. We had a competitive game in South Africa (unrecognised 3TC), which was great. It gave me a little bit of confidence,” De Villiers said. It should be stated here that De Villiers has retired from international cricket in 2018.
“As a 36-year-old to come here, having not played a lot of cricket, in the middle of some talented youngsters, was a pleasing start. Very happy with the basics, seems to be in place,” the South African added.
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It was being speculated that De Villiers will come out of his retirement to play for South Africa in the T20 World Cup. However, the tournament, which was to be hosted by Australia this year, was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
De Villiers singled out opener Devdutt Padikkal, who smashed a fifty on IPL debut, for special praise. He said that the young talents on display in the IPL are ‘incredible’.
“Padikkal is a shy and quiet guy but I don’t have to say much really, he looks like a really good talent. It’s a tough thing to arrive at the IPL, they don’t come more tough than that. The talent is just incredible. Every year there are 19 and 20-year-olds coming through and shining. It looks like they’ve played international cricket for a long time,” De Villiers said.