494Views

The Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore are in stellar form as they have managed to win five out of seven games in this season of the IPL. After years of inconsistency and shameful performances, Kohli and Co. have finally found the rhythm in their performances as they sit on the third spot after seven games.

They are on a level with Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals and the road to playoffs is turning out to a cake-walk for RCB. The credit goes to the entire team but specifically Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers who have held the team firm and made sure that mistakes are not repeated.

The frequently criticized RCB bowling attack, however, has also shown character and learned from their past mistakes. Isuru Udana, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, and Navdeep Saini have done very well at the death, not leaking too many runs in the powerplay too.

Ravi Shastri and AB de Villiers  AB de Villiers
Ravi Shastri and AB de Villiers

However, their most recent game saw the vintage AB de Villiers, who had gone quiet after some key performances in the initial stages of the competition. He was on a rampage as he looted 73 runs out of 33 balls that incorporated five fours and six sixes. His explosive batting and Virat’s composure helped the team to score 194.

Their 100 run partnership came in just 49 balls and it was one of the very few occasions where Virat Kohli looked the sidekick while AB de Villiers kept firing from his bat. Tight and accurate bowling from RCB sucked Kolkata under pressure as they stumbled and suffered an 82-run loss, the same margin which saw RCB losing and scoring their lowest total of 49 eight years ago.

Watching AB de’s treat, Indian Head coach Ravi Shastri is fully convinced that the ex-Proteas skipper should return to international cricket. 

De Villiers’ retirement in 2018 was an absolute shocker as he was the center of South Africa’s plan for the ICC World Cup 2019. He did make a final attempt to come out of retirement later on during the World Cup but reports revealed that the South African board and the coach refused to let it happen.  

Featured image credits - The quint.com