AB de Villiers is, perhaps, the most loved foreign sportsperson in India. The adulation and support he gets at every cricket venue in India is unmatched to that generated by any opposition player. A lot of it has to do with his heroics for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. To the citizens of Bangalore he is a local lad, their own.
It seems apt, hence, that the South African batsman is set to play his 100th Test match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium – his home away from home. And de Villiers is pretty chuffed about the happy coincidence.
“I have never been very fundamental about these things. I don’t care where I play my 100th Test or any Test. But I will add that I am very happy it worked out like this,” de Villiers said ahead of the second Test against India. “Playing my 100th Test in Bangalore is special. I love coming here and playing the IPL, and I love touring India in general.”
What adds to the charm of de Villiers is his likeability factor. His ever-smiling face, humble demeanour and willingness to help younger cricketers, make him a hit within and outside the dressing room. However, he quickly tries to shed the ‘nice guy’ tag when he is on the field, doing all he can to win cricket matches.
“I am not a nice guy on the field,” he insists. “I will do whatever it takes to win a game of cricket. If I have to sledge, I will get into that. If I have to intimidate a player I will try and get Virat off his game by talking about his technique.
“So, I am not a nice guy on the field and I have never really respected a nice guy on the field. I like the opposition to be hard and to play to win the game for their teams.
“Off the field I try to be a good human being and it has nothing to do with cricket. But within the team, I know my role is to win matches, and a lot of times I don’t have to be a nice guy to do that.”
Winning the game will be de Villiers’s sole objective as he steps on the ground for the second Test. South Africa have never won a Test series in India, and de Villiers is more than keen to change that.
“I do like to stay in the moment and think about what is important today. I know we are one-down and we want to get back in the series. I will be under pressure because we are one-down in the series and not because this will be my 100th Test.
“It is about winning away from home. We have never done it in India and it will be a great achievement. We have enough motivation and drive within our team to be able to achieve something special as this,” de Villiers said.
South Africa find themselves in this position after they conceded the Mohali Test inside three days. Their batsmen seemed clueless against the guile of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, as they fell short by 108 runs in the end. However, de Villiers insisted that performance should not be the basis to judge the Proteas batsmen’s ability to play spin bowling.
“It has been blown absolutely out of proportion. If you look at batting scorecards, both teams struggled on the pitch and looked foolish at times playing spin,” he said. “We came out on the losing side having not played to our full potential in a couple of sessions. We could have batted better in the first innings but we didn’t, and somewhere along the line in India’s second innings, we let it slip 50-100 runs with the ball.”
There was much talk surrounding the sluggish nature of the Mohali pitch. But de Villiers refused to cry foul over India preparing spin-friendly wickets, opining that every team has the right to give themselves the home advantage. He also said that the South Africans expect turning pitches throughout the Test series.
“All four Test matches will be played in similar kind of conditions, no matter where we play. We are expecting turning wickets, whether we go to Bangalore or Delhi, and we have prepared for that,” he said. “We have worked really hard on our games and I feel that we have covered all bases. I don’t think we played poorly in that first Test match. It doesn’t tell anything about our ability to take on India in their own conditions.
“So, I am prepared for any kind of Bangalore wicket, come the Test match. We know it is going to turn. We know it is not going to be a Wanderers’ wicket. We are prepared and excited for the challenge. South African teams are known for the way they bounce back.”
