It’s ‘normal’ for AB de Villiers to bat on another planet

AB de Villiers hit 145 runs off 205 deliveries in two of the most crucial innings, played in torrid batting conditions, in South Africa’s series win over India, but the Proteas’ batting genius said on Thursday that it was just the way he normally plays.

In Cape Town, De Villiers came to the crease at seven for two on the first morning with the ball hooping around off a grassy pitch.

But for the prodigal son of the Test team, it looked like just another hit around in the nets as he shifted the momentum with a breathtaking innings of 65 off 84 balls, a strike-rate of 77.38.

At Centurion this week, De Villiers came in with South Africa three for two and he showed tremendous positive intent, scoring as freely as only Virat Kohli had managed on a two-paced, up-and-down pitch, hitting 80 off 121 deliveries, a strike-rate of 66.11.

“I just watch the ball and play it. I’ve always said that I don’t feel there’s a big difference in the way I approach the three different formats, so I definitely don’t have to force myself to be positive in those conditions. I feel like I’m in the best form of my life, but there are no guarantees that you will score runs,” De Villiers said at the Wanderers after the launch of the Pink ODI to be played against India on February 10.

“It’s great to be back in Test cricket because that’s the ultimate challenge and obviously I’ve really enjoyed it. But it’s been an all-round effort and Faf, Dean, Aiden and Hashim all played big hands as well. I don’t go out on the field to get hundreds, if I’ve contributed to my team winning then that’s good enough for me.”

It took fast bowler Kagiso Rabada to put De Villiers’ efforts into perspective.

“Those were really crucial runs from AB in the second innings, he’s got the great ability to speed the game up and not go out at the same time. He’s a genius at his craft, being able to stay in on a difficult pitch but still have a strike-rate of 70-80%. He makes it look easy and he has a real understanding of the game which is not easy to get,” Rabada said.

Without wishing for another tough batting pitch, De Villiers said he hoped the Wanderers, where the third Test starts on Wednesday, would provide a better surface than the uneven pudding they encountered at Centurion.

“Hopefully there’ll be more bounce and pace at the Wanderers. The pitches so far haven’t allowed centuries, apart from Virat’s really good first dig at SuperSport Park, and there’s also been good bowling.

“It’s great to see new faces and confident youngsters in our side, I’ve been extremely impressed by Aiden and Lungi and even KG only started his international career the other day, but he’s playing with the maturity of 10 seasons. That’s really driving us to different heights, there’s a great feeling in the changeroom, of confidence, fresh air and energy,“ De Villiers said.

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