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Warner lauds Proteas superstar de Villiers

In-form Aussie opener heaps praise on South African ahead of IPL showdown

David Warner might be the current Orange Cap-holder in the Indian Premier League but he reckons he’s a long way off the talents of South Africa captain AB de Villiers.

On Sunday night, de Villiers smashed an unbeaten 59-ball 133 for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Mumbai Indians, which followed some of the most exotic limited-overs innings one has seen in recent times off his bat.

His ability to hit the ball in every direction of the field has earned praise from peers and experts alike and Warner thinks no differently.

The Australia opener praised de Villiers’ ability to shift gears at will but also said he was helped by his top-order pair, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, who had been able to lay a platform for him.

“I am not in the same category as AB de Villiers. He is a guy that comes out and gets himself in and then all of a sudden he just switches from slow motion to the extreme rocket or something like that,” Warner said in an interview with the official IPL site.

“Whatever he is eating, we want some of that.

“That’s the way he plays; it is fearless cricket. The thing is, he is able to do that because his top two are scoring the runs. It allows your middle order to play in when your top three are scoring runs.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad play RCB in their next game on Friday and Warner knows de Villiers won’t be their only challenge.

Australia teammate Mitchell Starc has led the Bangalore attack admirably, and has 16 scalps to his credit despite joining the side about a fortnight after the tournament started.

Since Starc joined the team, Bangalore have won five and lost just two of their games and he will continue to remain a threat against a top-heavy side like Hyderabad that so relies on their openers to get them off to starts in order to pile up the runs.

Warner reckons Hyderabad will need to be at their best if they want to counter Starc with the ball and the explosive Bangalore batting.

“The Royal Challengers Bangalore have someone like Mitchell Starc: two overs upfront – minimal runs; two overs at the end – minimal runs,” he said.

“So basically you have four overs there where he is only going for less than 20 at an economy rate of four to five.

“It backs up their bowling and again they can play fearless cricket. We have to be on top of our game to beat them next game.”

Despite having scored six fifties from 12 games in the competition, Warner refused to believe he was in the form of his life in this format.

The Sunrisers captain said it’s necessary to remain in the present moment.

“You are only as good as your last innings. I’ve got to keep working hard and have a level head,” he added.

“I take each game as it comes. Next game I start afresh and I am batting on zero again whether we are starting or chasing.

“I am still going to play the same way that I do. We know it is going to be another good pitch (for the next game) but we have to keep backing ourselves and keep believing.”