‘He could become a direct swap for either Maxwell or AB de Villiers’ – RCB head coach Mike Hesson has high hopes from new recruit

With the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 being less than a month away, all the eight teams are busy finalizing their strategies and plans. The gala competition resumes on September 19 with all the remaining matches taking place in UAE. Royal Challengers Banglore (RCB) are indeed one of the sides to watch out for as they enjoyed a sensational run earlier this year.

Having won five of their first seven games, the Virat Kohli-led side was second in the team standings at the time of season suspension. RCB’s phenomenal batting show was instrumental in their success. While Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli shone at the top, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell handled the onus in the middle order. This sort of batting order can certainly fear the best of oppositions.

With Tim David coming in the mix, the side’s batting line-up looks even more formidable. David is one of the three new faces in the RCB squad, as announced on Saturday. With his, the batter became the first Singapore player to bag a contract in the celebrated Indian competition. The right-handed batter is known for scoring runs consistently and that too at a phenomenal factor.

So far, David has scored 558 runs in 14 T20Is with his average and strike rate being 46.50 and 158.52. These numbers are certainly not ordinary. Hence, RCB’s newly-appointed Mike Hesson has massive hopes from him. Hesson even believes that David can fulfill the shoes of Maxwell and De Villiers if needed.

Tim David is a power player: Mike Hesson

“With Finn Allen leaving, we have decided to strengthen our middle-order possibilities, in terms of options, so Tim David has joined our squad. He is currently part of the Southern Brave [at the Hundred], he has been performing for Surrey and also Hobart Hurricanes in recent times – a power player,” Hesson said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

“He could become a direct swap for either [Glenn] Maxwell or AB de Villiers if required, also gives us other options throughout the order,” the New Zealander added. Meanwhile, RCB will resume their campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders on September 20 in Abu Dhabi.