Twitter
Advertisement

IPL 8: Watching AB de Villiers from up close is like a dream, says Mandeep Singh

Not disappointed at not being named man of the match, Mandeep was only pleased with the opportunity to play alongside the likes of Kohli and de Villiers

Latest News
article-main
AB de Villiers
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

On a pitch where the likes of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and even AB de Villiers were slow to start with, talented 23-year-old Punjab right-handed batsman Mandeep Singh called the shots from the word go.

Mandeep's unbeaten 54 off just 34 balls with seven fours and two sixes was very crucial for Royal Challengers Bangalore winning the IPL eliminator against Rajasthan Royals in Pune on Wednesday night. Mandeep deserved the man of the match award more than de Villiers, who has been winning that award at the wink of the eye. Awarding Mandeep with man of the match would have boosted the youngster's confidence manifold, especially when he rarely gets batting, what with Gayle, Kohli and AB filling the top three slots and scoring a majority of the runs.

Joining AB at 46/2 in the eighth over, Mandeep took fewer deliveries to settle down than the formidable South African. He paced his innings admirably so much that even AB began to play his strokes freely in the second half of the RCB innings.

RCB's batting has been all about the top three this season, each of Kohli (493 runs), Gayle (450) and AB (512) scoring a minimum of 450 runs. The fourth highest in the list is Mandeep with 153 runs from eight visits to the crease in 13 matches. He played one other significant knock before Wednesday, an unbeaten 45 in a winning cause against Kolkata Knight Riders at the start of the month.

Not disappointed at not being named man of the match, Mandeep was only pleased with the opportunity to play alongside the likes of Kohli and de Villiers. "Those three (Gayle, AB, Kohli) have mostly finished off most of our matches, so I haven’t got to bat much," Mandeep said after the match on Wednesday. "I’ve batted only eight times. That is a downside and an upside. But today (Wednesday), it went well."

It was Mandeep's 113-run partnership in 67 balls for the third wicket with de Villiers that took RCB to a total beyond RR's reach. In the three previous matches at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium this season, the highest was 169/5 posted by Delhi Daredevils against Kings XI Punjab. So, to score more than that needed quite an effort and planning.
Planning, it did go as much to RCB's when Mandeep and AB were out in the middle. 

"AB told me that the pitch is a little tough. It’s double-paced and the ball is swinging too. So, it will take some time initially. We were aiming for a score of 140-150, not 170-180. Anything over 150 would be a bonus. So we decided to keep it simple, spend time and then we could cover up later," Mandeep said.

The former India under-19 batsman added it was a dream to be batting with AB. "Watching AB from up close is like a dream. In a way, he and Virat Kohli are the idols of all young batsmen all over the world. They both rule cricket now-a-days, so playing with them is a dream-come-true. It is immense fun," he said.

Mandeep's initial strokes eased the pressure off AB. 'I think I was lucky I was getting some loose balls and I just capitalised. AB was finding it a little difficult in the beginning. He was telling me that the ball was not coming on to the bat. He said it was the toughest innings he has played so far because he hasn’t struggled this much in any of the previous games. You can say I took a little bit of pressure off him initially, so it feels very good."

Having said that, Mandeep said there was no plan to attack straightaway. "AB and I thought of building a partnership first. The ball was moving quite a bit and cutting too, and the pitch was double-paced. He was saying that any new batsman coming in will have some difficulties, so we needed to stay together. And he told me soon after coming in that 140-150 would be a very good score on this pitch. So we just kept it simple, rotated the strike and hit the ball if it Was in the slot. I hit whatever was in my range."

High on confidence, Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Chennai Super Kings in the Qualifier-2 in Ranchi on Friday with the winner sailing into the final against Mumbai Indians in Kolkata on Sunday.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement