Dubai: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman AB de Villiers said for an ‘old man’ like him, it is important to stay fresh as much as possible. He also said that the pitch at the practice wickets in Dubai was a little sticky, which made it tough to hit big shots in his first practice session after completing quarantine.
In a video posted by RCB on Twitter, the 37-year-old de Villiers was seen trying to hit the ball all over the park. “It was very good. The wicket was a bit sticky so it was quite tough actually. Bowlers bowled very well and it’s humid here, we are gonna sweat a lot which is good for losing a bit of weight but for an old man like me, I need to stay fresh as much as I can,” said de Villiers.
“It was a great session and was nice to see everyone out there. All the guys are looking very eager to get going. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s warm-up game,” added de Villiers.
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The former South Africa captain felt nice about reuniting with his RCB teammates after the first half of IPL 2021 in India. “Absolutely, I have missed the guys. I have caught up with a couple of individuals and I will get to meet up with the older guys over the next few days. I have covered a couple of guys tonight and it’s nice to hear all the stories and what they got up to in the last couple of months.’There’s some interesting stuff that has happened and, it’s great to be together as a team again.”
In between, de Villiers was seen doing some shadow batting in the practice sessions. Asked about his rationale to do shadow batting, de Villiers revealed, “Obviously as players, you try to figure a little things about your technique, the little movements you do. I have got quite a few trigger points which have served me throughout my career. So I try and get through the memory bank of little things I used to do.”
“I have always chopped and changed my technique as I have moved on and this is no different. This is the first time in a few months that I will be playing competitive cricket again. So, I am trying to find the comfort zone of movement at the crease, where my head position should be ‘A’ and that’s what I think of when I do shadow batting,” concluded de Villiers.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will begin their second half of IPL 2021 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders on September 20 in Abu Dhabi. They are currently at third place in the points table with 10 points from seven matches.
