AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli.© AFP
South Africa great AB de Villiers made his frustration clear regarding comparisons between him and openers in T20 cricket. De Villiers, who batted primarily in the middle order, stated his dislike for when someone says an opener is better than him by using the metric of runs scored. The former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star argued that openers have it easier batting in the powerplay with field restrictions imposed. He also said that he was less likely to compete for Orange Caps (award for most runs scored in the IPL) as he faced less balls than openers.
“I hate it when they compare my runs to other players in the IPL because then I go, ‘But I haven’t faced as many balls as the openers.’ It irritates the living daylights out of me,” de Villiers said, speaking to former Zimbabwe cricketer and reputed commentator Pommie Mbangwa.
“This guy scored 8,000 runs. He’s the best ever. No, I’m better than him. He’s just faced more balls. Don’t do it. And then on top of that, they’re all openers, and they bat with these restrictions. Only two guys out,” he added.
De Villiers explained that batting from the start in the World Championship of Legends (WCL) opened his eyes on the matter.
“I did it in the WCL. They (openers) are playing a different game, like it’s ridiculous, man, especially in India. You can’t play cricket like that. But then don’t compare my stats,” de Villiers said.
“All the top run scorers, the Orange Caps, you have to open the batting to win stuff. It irritates me,” he further said.
De Villiers amassed 5,162 runs in 170 innings over the course of his IPL career at a superb strike-rate of 151.68 and average of nearly 40. However, he never managed to win the IPL title.