‘Not only this season, for a lot of seasons’ – Gautam Gambhir on RCB not making AB de Villiers’ optimum utilization

Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir reckoned that the Royal Challengers Bangalore have underutilized AB de Villiers for quite a few seasons of the Indian Premier League. In the ongoing edition of the T20 tournament, De Villiers played some scintillating knocks in India. But he has had a tough time after the event had to be shifted to the UAE in the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 13 games thus far, De Villiers has scored 276 runs with two half-centuries to show for his efforts. In the UAE, the Pretoria-born has got scores of 0, 12, 11, 4, 23, 19. Gambhir felt that the veteran is batting way down the order and that his ideal position is either opening or at No.3.

Gambhir was also surprised by the fact that De Villiers batted at No.6 in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad a couple of days ago at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Batting AB de Villiers at No.6 makes no sense to me, Gambhir said

“(On RCB under-utilizing de Villiers) Not only this season, for a lot of seasons. In fact, I was of the opinion that he should open the batting or bat at No 3 for RCB. Batting AB de Villiers at No.6 makes no sense to me,” Gambhir was quoted as saying to ESPNcricinfo.

“I personally want to see him go early and take the game by the scruff of the neck. He’s been a fantastic player, so I would love to see him being utilized more,” he stated.

Gambhir, also the 2012 and 2014 IPL-winning skipper, said that the Challengers should stop persisting with Daniel Christian and try out the Sri Lankan duo of Dushmantha Chameera and Wanindu Hasaranga.

“No, they should not persist with Daniel Christian, but they will. And the reason is because I don’t know, it has to be superstition. I would pick Hasaranga and Chameera instead,” Gambhir said.

“I think it is an opportunity for Bangalore to see what Dushmantha Chameera or Wanindu Hasaranga can give you, if not both, in the final fixture,” he added.

RCB are currently placed at third in the table and have already made their way through to the playoffs. Their final league game is against the Delhi Capitals on Friday.