Don’t think AB de Villiers has achieved anything in IPL, says Gautam Gambhir.
The IPL 2024 season has witnessed a whirlwind of criticism surrounding the captaincy of Indian cricket team all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who was entrusted with the leadership role for the Mumbai Indians, replacing the seasoned Rohit Sharma.
However, the decision has met with significant backlash from a segment of the fanbase, exacerbated by the team’s lackluster performance, securing just four wins out of thirteen matches in the competition.
Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen and ex-South African and Royal Challengers Bangalore stalwart AB de Villiers have added fuel to the fire by publicly weighing in on Pandya’s captaincy, intensifying the scrutiny surrounding his leadership abilities.
In a surprising turn of events, former Indian batter and current Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gautam Gambhir has stepped forward to defend Pandya against the barrage of criticism.
Gambhir condemned the harsh scrutiny faced by Pandya and, in a bid to contextualize the situation, pointed out the less than stellar captaincy records of both Pietersen and de Villiers.
He specifically highlighted de Villiers’ inability to clinch an IPL title with the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise, suggesting that beyond his individual brilliance with the bat, his captaincy accolades remain relatively modest.
“What was their own performance like when they were 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 think they are worse than any other leader. 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, Hardik Pandya is still an IPL-winning captain. So you should only compare oranges to oranges. Not apple to oranges,” Gambhir said in an interaction with Sportskeeda.
Kolkata Knight Riders became the first team to reach in the IPL 2024 playoffs while RCB are still in the hunt for a top 4 finish.
Also read: Hardik Pandya suffering mental health issues due to booing in IPL games
The Bengaluru team must have to win its final game of the league campaign, against Chennai Super Kings, in order to remain in the hunt but also hope that certain other results fall in their favour.
