5 Bowlers who can neutralize AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers is currently the hottest talking point in the cricket fraternity. It would not be wrong to say that de Villiers has graduated to a level of batting where he can be regarded as the best batsman in modern cricket as far as ODIs is concerned. Every adjective in admiration of him seems to be just an understatement these days. Such has been his achievements and his batting style in the past few years. His exploits in the ‘Freedom’ series was just another reminder that AB de Villiers is a batsman who is out of the league and certainly ahead of his time in terms of batting. It was almost a decade ago when AB de Villiers made his debut for South Africa as an opener. After initially starting as an opener, he slowly came down the batting order to suit the needs of the team. In the first five years of his career, he was just a ‘normal batsman’. He, however, has proved himself as an innovator. His batting innovations have helped him reach the peak of his performances in the last five years of his career, literally making him an immortal with the bat. Bowlers all over the world are having a tough time in containing his run-scoring proficiency. Usually, captains and bowler take the field with a plan about “how to get a batsman out”. However, in AB’s case nowadays, the major focus is to just stop him from flourishing. But, there are a few bowlers in world cricket who have the capability of giving him a tough challenge. And thus we analyze five bowlers, who have it in them to neutralize Mr. AB de Villiers and his runs fests. Here we look at 5 Bowlers who can neutralize AB de Villiers: 1. Mitchell Starc: Mitchell Starc. (© Getty Images) Mitchell Starc started his career in the Australian squad playing under the shadow of Mitchell Johnson. Few years back, Shane Warne tagged him as a ‘soft’ after he a breakdown during a Test match. It seems like he took that statement too seriously. Mitchell Starc has re-invented himself in the last few years. He has become more like the tough Australian full of self-belief and confidence. His bowling had pace but lacked proper line and length which isn’t an issue now. The results speak for his tremendous improvement. The newest feature of his left arm fast bowling is his impeccable yorkers which always land in the pinpoint areas. De Villiers likes the pre-meditated sort of game and plays with the bowlers mind. But, Starc’s pace and sharp cricketing mind will not allow AB de Villiers to move in the crease freely. This point is not to interpret that Starc would effectively stop de Villiers. But, he is a bowler who can definitely force AB to change his initial plans. 2. Trent Boult: Trent Boult. (© Getty Images) Trent Boult is another rising star from New Zealand who has gradually learned the tricks of the game and has become a tormentor of batsmen. On green pitches under grey clouds, he can wreck havoc and turn life miserable for the batters. His stock delivery happens to be the in-swinger from around the wicket which most of the times proves enough to dislodge the batsmen. Apart from that, he bowls accurate swinging yorkers almost unpredictably. Trent Boult may not look tall and imposing but surely has the skills and the brains to stop AB de Villiers. 3. Ravichandran Ashwin: Ravichandran Ashwin. (© DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images) Ravichandran Ashwin has come a long way in his career. He is now a perfect orthodox off-spinner. Though, he fiddled with the carom ball for a while but has now settled down as a mature and fairly experienced bowler who believes more in his stock delivery. Ashwin, nowadays, does not rely on his finger flicking delivery. Instead, he has developed his stock ball to such an extent that it is fetching him most of the wickets. In the recently concluded T20I series against South Africa, Ashwin was the only bowler who was able to stop AB de Villiers. In fact, he dismissed him on both the occasions. His canny off breaks had put brakes to AB’s free hitting. Their face-off was widely anticipated for the ODI series. Ashwin has proved that he is not an easy bowler to hit (even without his magic deliveries) and AB de Villiers has surely got the taste of it. 4. Wahab Riaz: Wahab Riaz of Pakistan. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Wahab Riaz’s has very unimpressive ODI stats. However just relying on the numbers to read him as a bowler will prove to be a huge mistake. Like the other two fast bowlers mentioned in the list, Riaz has a very threatening bouncer apart from the vicious swinging yorkers he bowls. His fiery bowling spell against Australia in the 2015 ICC World Cup semi final match was a sight to watch for every budding fast bowler and is still fresh in the minds of the fans. Be it ODIs or Tests, he has been very hot to handle for the batsmen. He bowled inspiring spells of fast bowling in the World Cup and has maintained good form since then. Given the fact that AB de Villiers has fared extremely well in almost every condition, a duel between him and Wahab Riaz on a fast Kingsmead pitch at Durban will be an interesting contest to anticipate. 5. Lasith Malinga: Lasith Malinga. (Photo Source: Twitter) Lasith Malinga is still the best death over bowler in the world. Injuries might have slowed him down a bit, but his yorkers are still as lethal as they were during his early days. Malinga is one of the key bowlers for Sri Lanka in the ODIs. Ask any batsman in the world currently, be it Virat Kohli or Steve Smith, they would accept the fact that he is still a challenging bowler to face, especially in the death overs. Slingy action, skiddy bouncers and the all important ‘yorker’ cannot be under-estimated and that is what makes him so dangerous. Therefore, ‘Slinga Malinga’ is yet another bowler who holds great capability of handling the AB de Villiers menace to a great extent.

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5 Bowlers who can neutralize AB de Villiers

There are a few bowlers in world cricket who have the capability of giving him a tough challenge.

5. Lasith Malinga:

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