The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) edges closer and fans are delighted at the prospect of the cash-rich league reverting to their pre-Covid era of home and away matches. However, one former IPL-winning captain has discounted the efforts of another power-hitting batter from South Africa because he used to play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium!
Gautam Gambhir, during a discussion with other panellists ahead of the franchisee tournament, was critical of Ab de Villiers and does not believe that he is among the best in the league. According to the former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain, it is apparently really easy to score runs at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
"Ab de Villiers only had personal records in the IPL. Anybody could have scored runs in Chinnaswamy Stadium," said Gambhir on Star Sports.
This is quite in contrast with the career trajectory that the batter has had, shining in all three formats of the game. These comments did not settle well with fans on social media, who quickly began trolling him by reminding him about his own record at the Chinnaswamy.
Many fans brought up Gambhir's own record in Bengaluru, which was underwhelming, to say the least. He has played 11 games at the iconic Stadium, scoring just 302 runs at an average of 30.02 and a below-par strike rate of 126.36. In comparison, de Villiers scored 1960 runs in 61 matches at Chinnaswamy, for an average of 43.56 and a stunning strike rate of 161.18.
De Villiers retired from competitive cricket after the 13th edition of the IPL in 2021. He played for the Delhi Capitals (now Delhi Daredevils) from 2008 to 2010 before joining RCB in 2011 and spending the rest of his career with the Bengaluru-based franchise.
