Shoaib Malik: “I would give the example of AB de Villiers here. He would know ok the bowler has bowled a yorker now, he will bowl a slow bouncer here or outside off stump”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan power-hitter Shoaib Malik said legendary South Africa batsman AB de Villiers knew what bowlers were going to do next as his knowledge of the game was simply superb.
Using an example, Malik noted that after a bowler had unleashed a yorker, De Villiers knew that he would either bowl a slower bouncer or a delivery outside off-stump.
“I would give the example of AB de Villiers here. He would know ok the bowler has bowled a yorker now, he will bowl a slow bouncer here or outside off stump,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Malik admitted that India batsman Suryakumar Yadav is starting to fall into that same category as De Villiers, given the form he has shown throughout the T20 World Cup.
In the six games he played, he scored 239 runs, which included three half-centuries, at an average of 59.75 and a strike-rate of 189.68.
India lost to England by 10 wickets in the semi-finals.
England subsequently beat Pakistan by five wickets in the final to lift the trophy.