Former Indian batsman-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar recently made a bold statement about South African legend AB de Villiers and his career in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The legendary batsman played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for 11 seasons in the IPL.
Sanjay Manjrekar claimed that AB de Villiers played for the wrong franchise throughout his IPL career. A cricket expert has boldly claimed that Mr 360 could have achieved even greater success had he played for another franchise in the Indian Premier League.
Suryakumar Yadav overtakes AB de Villiers as ‘Mr 360’: Sanjay Manjrekar
Even the former Indian batsman claimed that India’s T20I captain and amazing batsman Suryakumar Yadav has surpassed AB de Villiers as “Mr. 360” in T20 cricket thanks to his match-winning performances. However, Manjrekar acknowledged de Villiers’ greatness in all formats but said that AB’s potential in T20 has not been fully utilized in the IPL, all thanks to RCB.
Sanjay Manjrekar said on Star Sports when asked if Suryakumar Yadav has overtaken ABD as “Mr. 360” in T20s: “I will say yes, because of the match-winning impact. AB was amazing. But AB’s greatness was that he averaged 50 on tests. Even in ODIs. So he’s an amazing player. But only if you look at T20 cricket; I saw a lot of both of them. AB, in IPL, was not used properly. His real ability.”
Sanjay Manjrekar claims that AB de Villiers played for the wrong IPL franchise
The cricket commentator further suggested that AB de Villiers did not reach his full potential in the IPL due to playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), and therefore felt that the Bengaluru-based franchise was not the right fit for the South African legend.
Manjrekar signed off by saying, “So we didn’t get that much juice out of him in the IPL. AB’s true ability has not been fully utilized in the IPL. He was often sent down low, which limited his impact in some games. And, unfortunately, he played for the wrong team. If he had been with another franchise, we might have seen his brilliance even more.”
AB de Villiers’ legacy in IPL with RCB
Meanwhile, AB de Villiers is regarded as one of the iconic stars in IPL history. The former South African captain started his IPL career in 2008 with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). After three seasons with the Delhi-based franchise, the former batting legend joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in 2011.
He became a key franchise player over the next 11 seasons in the league. De Villiers is the second highest run-scorer in RCB’s IPL history, with 4522 runs from 2011 to 2021. The Proteas great is only behind Virat Kohli and even Chris Gayle is more than 1000 runs behind him.
Throughout his IPL career, de Villiers scored a total of 5162 runs in 184 matches. However, only 640 of those runs came during his time with the Delhi Daredevils. In fact, De Villiers recently expressed his desire to return to the cricket field, but only in friendly matches. He also made it clear that he will not return to RCB.
