Rangpur to get AB de Villiers-boost Jan 17
thesouthafrican.com
|| CF Correspondent ||
Defending champions Rangpur Riders is keenly waiting for the arrival of South African batting maestro AB de Villiers as he is set to join the squad on January 17 as they believe it will change play a big impact behind changing their fortune in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League.
AB is known as Mr. 360 because of his ability to hit the ball all around the park and Riders will be looking forward to see some of his blazing with the bat in the upcoming days.
AB surprised the entire cricket fraternity by announcing his international retirement in 2018, is expected to feature against Sylhet Sixers on January 19 when the host takes on Riders in the last game at their own den.
‘’We are expecting him to arrive on January 17,’’ said Riders officials on Tuesday. His presence will surely be a big boost for us,’’ he added.
Things are not going well in the Riders camp as they are yet to begin firing from all cylinders in the ongoing BPL, country’s lone franchise-based T20 tournament picking only two wins from five games that they played so far despite having Chris Gayle at their dressing room, who turned their fortune in the last edition by blazing in the late stage of the tournament.
Though Gayle is yet to fire, Ravi Bopara believe that AB arrival will be key in injecting the much required boost in their batting unit that looks more relevant in the present context as the champions lost their last two matches.
“AB de Villiers arrives after the first six games and we know that the next round is played in good wickets in Sylhet and Chittagong. It is good news for us, because he is playing on the best wickets. Only God knows what will happen here [Mirpur]. If de Villiers gets set in Chittagong, then good luck to the bowlers,’’ Bopara told reporters in the midst of the tournament during the opening phase at Dhaka.
