Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Kolkata Knight Riders in a day game on Sunday. They remain unbeaten and are yet to lose a match in the ongoing IPL-2021. One of the major reasons for RCB’s good run of form has to be their two star overseas batsmen, Glenn Maxwell and AB De Villiers. Both of them have been absolutely sensational to say the least. While Glenn Maxwell has taken the responsibility to take on the spinners, De Villiers has taken the responsibility to finish games for RCB and be the finisher. Neither of the two have disappointed RCB or their fans as of now. AB De Villiers and Glenn Maxwell were the main reasons for RCB’s 38-run win over KKR. While Glenn Maxwell consolidated the RCB innings after a poor start by scoring a well-made 78, AB de Villiers provided the final flourish with his explosive 34-ball 76*

 

However, De Villiers said that Maxwell got angry at him during the partnership. He revealed that Maxwell was frustrated with him as he was ‘Tired’. Chennai’s heat hasn’t been kind to anyone and it was Maxwell’s turn to face the “Heat”. “So, when I came in, I realised Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) was very tired. He told me he doesn’t want to run very much. I started with two runs and three, so he was very angry with me,” revealed AB de Villiers. The former South African captain however did admit that he enjoyed the company of Maxwell in the middle. “To be honest, we just enjoyed playing with each other. We are similar players, with lots of energy. We love having an impact on the game for the team. When I came into bat, the talk was just to get a base together, get a partnership going. He told me the wicket was not as bad, maybe 20 up from the last few games. So, I knew if we got a partnership going somewhere, we would sense some weakness,” said AB de Villiers.

 

Many people questioned the RCB management to demote De Villiers in the batting order. Making your best batsman bat down the order hasn’t always been a solution but RCB making ABD bat at 5 seems a masterstroke. ” It t depends on the situation. I laid a nice foundation. I had a very good start today with a lot of twos and a couple of threes. Then their leg-spinner (Varun Chakravarthy) came on, and I could sense he was bowling a bit defensive. That was the moment where I started showing intent and showing bowlers that I will start taking chances. Then I had a few opportunities towards the back end. I took a chance and sent a message to them that I was going to hit them off their lengths today” said Dr Villiers. “It forced them into bowling more death deliveries. Andre Russell came on, and he was very stuck with that wide delivery. It wasn’t easy to be ready, but I opened up using his pace through third man, which put him under a lot of pressure,” said AB de Villiers. ABD was awarded the Man Of The Match Award for for his brilliant performance.

By Arvind Krishnan

Cricket writer, statistician and analyst. An unorthodox media student, marketing runs in his blood. Sports Marketer and analyst.