NEW DELHI: Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar made a surprising statement about the legendary AB de Villiers, claiming the South African icon played for the wrong franchise in the Indian Premier League. De Villiers debuted in the IPL in 2008 for Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) and spent three seasons with them. In the IPL 2011 mega auction, he joined Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and played 11 seasons for the franchise before retiring in 2021.
In his IPL career, De Villiers played 184 matches, scoring 5162 runs at an average of 39.71. He also recorded three centuries and 40 half-centuries.
With 251 sixes in the IPL, De Villiers holds the fifth position among batters with the most sixes in the league.
However, the South African legend never managed to win an IPL title. He featured in two IPL finals with RCB, in 2011 and 2016, but ended up on the losing side on both occasions.
When asked whether Suryakumar Yadav has surpassed AB de Villiers as “Mr. 360,” Manjrekar remarked: “I’ll say yes, because of the match-winning impact. AB was incredible. But AB’s greatness was that he averaged 50 in Tests. Even in one day (ODIs). So, he’s an amazing player. But only if you look at T20 cricket; I’ve seen both of them a lot.”
“AB, in IPL, he was not used properly. His real ability. So, in IPL we didn’t get that much juice out of him. Definitely (batted higher). And, sorry to say, but played for the wrong franchise. If he had played elsewhere, we could have seen the greatness of AB de Villiers,” Manjrekar said during the Star Sports show.
De Villiers is RCB’s second-highest run-scorer in IPL history. He played 156 matches for the franchise, amassing 4491 runs, including two centuries and 37 half-centuries.
