AB de Villiers, a South African born on 17 February 1984, made his IPL debut in the year 2008. AB de Villiers officially started from Delhi Daredevils but later on, he shifted to the Bangalore (now Bengaluru) franchise in the fourth edition of the IPL. During his time in the IPL, he has played 184 matches to date in his IPL career and has scored 5,162 runs, with an average of 39.70.
AB de Villiers has also slammed 3 centuries and 40 half-centuries, with his highest IPL score being 133* runs. AB de Villiers smashed 413 fours and 251 sixes in his IPL career. In Oct 2021, he played his farewell IPL match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, scoring 11 runs off 9 balls.
Gautam Gambhir and AB de Villiers are both respected figures in the sport, so when they clash over opinions, it tends to draw attention. The former Indian cricketer lashed out at AB de Villiers for questioning Hardik Pandya’s captaincy for Mumbai Indians (MI). Mumbai has been able to win only four out of 13 games under Hardik’s captaincy and has been kicked off the playoffs.
AB de Villiers shared a video on his YouTube channel questioning Hardik Pandya’s body language as he entered the pavilion. De Villiers tried to indicate that he (Hardik) was not being himself.
What was AB de Villiers’ own performance when he was the captain?- Gautam Gambhir
In the meanwhile, Gautam Gambhir questioned De Villiers’ captaincy when he was playing for the Bengaluru franchise while having a conversation on Sportskeeda sk Match ki Baat. To which he stated:
“What was his own performance when he was the captain? I don’t think, be it Kevin Pietersen or AB de Villiers, they had any performance in their career with leadership. Nothing if you pick and see their records. I don’t think AB de Villiers has achieved anything in the IPL apart from his own scores. I don’t think he has achieved anything from a team’s point of view,”
Gambhir went on to remind all the listeners that Gujarat Titans (GT) has won the Championship Trophy 2022 IPL edition under Hardik Pandya’s captaincy.