'People may forget his real name, but will always remember Mr. 360' - Virender Sehwag showers praise on AB de Villiers

It rarely feels that AB de Villiers has retired from cricket. Despite having hung his boots as many as three years ago, even today when de Villiers wields the willow for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, he never fails to leave one and all in awe of his unmatchable skills.

Amidst speculations of his comeback into the international circuit, which could be as early as the South Africa series against West Indies before the ICC T20I World Cup, another swashbuckling and explosive batters from the past era, Indian opener Virender Sehwag, has heaped praise on him for his incredible exploits.

Notably, de Villiers was completely inactive before he joined RCB for the 2021 edition of the IPL. And yet, almost magically, he did what he has always been known to with ridiculous ease. What was more worthy about the South African legend’s performance was the fact that he found himself going at the slow and tricky surface of Chepauk, where every batter from every team struggled to cope up.

People will always remember Mr. 360 degree: Virender Sehwag

In seven matches, de Villiers notched up three half-centuries, scoring runs at his absolute best. Going by the same, former India batsman Virender Sehwag reckons the tag ‘Mr. 360 degree’ is the perfect moniker to associate the batsman with.

“People may forget his real name, but will always remember Mr. 360 degree. I don’t think we need to give him any other name because how many can you even come up with. 360 degree is a good enough name. In the match against Delhi Capitals, when he left a few balls from Marcus Stoinis outside off-stump, he realised he left a wrong ball. Off the next ball, he went outside off, and even though he was expecting a similar delivery, it was a short-pitched ball and he hit a six,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.

“Only AB de Villiers could have done that. Had there been any other batsman, he would have gone outside off and instead ducked to the short ball or may have gotten out. I think only de Villiers could have connected. So, no need to look for any more adjectives or songs or poems. 360 degree is the perfect name,” Sehwag said.

The game Virender Sehwag was referring to was against the Delhi Capitals when AB de Villiers smashed an unbeaten 42-ball 75 after his team was reduced to 3/60 in the 9th over. His incredible knock, which included a 23-run last-over against Marcus Stoinis, proved crucial in the end as RCB edged over DC by just a run in the end.