IPL 2018 | RCB not heavily dependent on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, feels Mandeep Singh

IPL 2018 | RCB not heavily dependent on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, feels Mandeep Singh

no photo

|

BCCI

While acknowledging that Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers are clearly the best in the business, Mandeep Singh has asserted that RCB are not heavily dependent the duo. He also reserved special praise for Rishabh Pant, who he compared to Yuvraj Singh for his ability to clear the ropes in any ground.

When a side features stars like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in their batting line up, there will be questions over whether the team is overly dependant on them. This holds true for Royal Challengers Bangalore as well. After de Villiers’ match-winning 90 off 39 balls against Delhi Daredevils helped the Bangalore franchise secure a six wicket win on Saturday, the perennial question was once again asked and this time it was directed at Mandeep Singh.

“According to me, they’re the world’s best batsmen and a lot of people see them and say that only they can win the match and we are heavily dependent on them,” said Mandeep. “If they’re on any team, it’s a sure thing that everyone will be looking at them only. But Our batting side is alright, it’s not heavily dependent on them,”  Mandeep said during the post match press conference, reported Cricinfo.

The 26-year-old batsman, who has looked good so far in this year’s IPL, has been at the non-striker’s end for each of de Villiers’s two half-centuries in the Indian Premier League – against King XI Punjab and Delhi. He complemented his senior partner well on both occasions and Mandeep explained that when batting with Kohli or de Villiers, his strategy was to read the situation and play accordingly.

“If you see, the game we won against KXIP, I was batting with him (de Villiers). I had the temptation to go for the big shot but I made my mind very clear that if we stay for another three-four overs, the game will be ours. So I made it very clear that I’m not going to try some stupid shot over here and get out and we just need to build a partnership over here and we will win the game,” Mandeep said.

Rishabh Pant’s brilliant knock of 85 off 48 once again exposed the faults of the Bangalore bowling attack in the death overs. It was a slow start for Delhi but a 75-run partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Pant laid the foundation as Delhi managed 69 runs in the last 27 balls to finish at 174 for 5. Pant, later pointed out that batting became easier as the night went on.

“In the first innings, the ball was turning much actually but in the second innings, the ball just turned a little bit and that made all the difference, the way AB played. Because of the dew, it got better in the second innings but that is a part of the game and we planned it out perfectly but we lost the match, unfortunately.”

Mandeep also agreed with Pant, said that in first few overs the ball turned and it favored the RCB bowlers but gradually with the dew, the ball got wet and was not much effective when Rahul Tewatia came to bowl.

“I think even when we were bowling, the first few overs spun. The dew was very heavy today and the ball got wet, it was coming nicely off the bat in the later part of the innings. Same happened with our innings as well. When they bowled with the new ball, it was spinning quite a lot but when Rahul Tewatia came, I think he was not able to turn that ball that much.”

But, on a night, when the Chinnaswamy Stadium witnessed yet another de Villiers masterclass, Mandeep had words of praise for his friend, Pant, who he said reminded him of a young Yuvraj Singh.

“When we were younger, we used to talk about Yuvraj Singh and how he used to hit the most sixes. I think in our generation now and in our time, Rishabh Pant is one name who can hit sixes any time and has a lot of ability,” said Mandeep.

Bangalore’s next match is against Chennai Super Kings on April 25 while Delhi to take on Kings XI Punjab on April 23.

Get updates! Follow us on

Open all