AB De Villiers Admits Jasprit Bumrah Didn’t Trouble Him Much Despite Being “One of the Greatest Bowlers”

AB de Villiers also jokingly remarked that he is not like Indian legend MS Dhoni, in response to questions about coming out of retirement.

AB De Villiers Admits Jasprit Bumrah Didn’t Trouble Him Much Despite Being “One of the Greatest Bowlers”

AB de Villiers opened up about facing Jasprit Bumrah during his career. (via ESPN Cricinfo)

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AB de Villiers recently made a surprising admission, revealing that Jasprit Bumrah did not pose a challenge to him during his playing career. This comment came despite de Villiers acknowledging that Bumrah is one of the greatest bowlers to have played for India.

The South African legend was best known for being one of the most destructive batters of the modern era. In 114 Test matches for the Proteas, he scored 8,765 runs at an average of 50.66. AB De Villiers’ accomplishments in the white-ball format are more profound, as he is South Africa’s second-highest all-time run-scorer in ODIs, with 9,427 runs at an average of 53.50, including 25 hundreds and 53 fifties.

Over a 14-year international career, De Villiers even captained South Africa for a brief period before stepping down due to injuries. He was appointed South Africa’s ODI captain in 2011, succeeding Graeme Smith, and held the position until 2017. In the 103 matches he led, South Africa won 59 and lost 39, a tenure that included a heartbreaking semi-final defeat to New Zealand in the 2015 ODI World Cup.

De Villiers most recently played for South Africa ‘Champions’ in the WCL, where he finished as the top scorer with 431 runs, hitting three hundreds. He was named Player of the Tournament while also leading his side to the title. Throughout his career, de Villiers faced some of the best bowlers of the century, from Australian icon Glenn McGrath to Indian pace sensation Jasprit Bumrah towards the end of his career.

Most recently, the 41-year-old opened up about his experiences facing Indian speedster Jasprit Bumrah. The former South African captain, speaking on his YouTube channel, acknowledged that Bumrah is one of the best in the world right now across all the formats.

He added, however, that he did not encounter much difficulty while playing against the ace Indian pacer and that Bumrah did not torment him in the same way he does to other batters today.

Jasprit Bumrah is one of the greatest bowlers I’ve ever played against. He never troubled me too much, luckily.

Throughout his career, AB de Villiers faced Jasprit Bumrah on numerous occasions in both international cricket and the IPL. In 13 T20 innings against Bumrah, De Villiers scored a total of 125 runs at a strike rate of 147.05, facing a total of 85 balls with an average of 41.66. Bumrah only managed to dismiss AB De Villiers three times in T20s, while being hit for nine fours and eight sixes by the South African.

Furthermore, AB de Villiers named a surprising pick, for the bowler who he thinks troubled him the most. He went on to name Mohammad Asif, noting that the former Pakistani pacer had found and exploited weaknesses in his batting technique when he was a younger player.

AB de Villiers Picks All-Time IPL XI, Includes Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah

South African legend icon AB de Villiers, picked his star-studded IPL XI of all time, which featured many legends of the biggest cricketing league of the world. De Villiers’ lineup was packed with firepower, flair and a hint of nostalgia.

AB de Villiers all-time IPL XI
AB de Villiers picked his all-time IPL XI, picking Jasprit Bumrah, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. (via NDTV Sports)

For his openers, the 41-year-old selected Rohit Sharma alongside former CSK legend Matthew Hayden. At number three, he picked his former RCB teammate, Virat Kohli, followed by Suryakumar Yadav. De Villiers slotted himself in at number five and completed the batting order with all-rounder and MI captain Hardik Pandya and CSK legend MS Dhoni, the most influential figure in IPL history.

Furthermore, AB de Villiers chose a star-studded bowling lineup, including Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga Yuzvendra Chahal and Daniel Vettori. To the surprise of many, de Villiers notably left out his former RCB teammate and one of the most terrifying batters in IPL history, Chris Gayle, from his XI.