SKY must realize he can't score 100 off 40 balls always: ABD
- Citing his own example of what he would do when he lost form, or touch, De Villiers said, "I went through those patches a lot of times in my career, and it is something I can write a book about. To be out of form is something I always feared so much that when I was in form, I always respected the fact that my next bad knock could be just around the corner.
- "So, whenever I got in, I ensured that I kept going and worked hard at my game. I remember in one of the IPL editions, I had two bad knocks in a row and then I would start getting anxious. I would be thinking 'I am very close to being in bad form and I need to quickly get out of it'."
- De Villiers advised 'Sky'; to stick to what has helped the Mumbaikar find success in the last few years.
- "He is probably in that phase now where he needs to do something. But the secretion it all is not to panic and not to change your game plan," said the former Proteas skipper.
- With his '360 degree' style of shot-making, Surya has evoked comparisons with De Villiers in the last few years.
- The retired great felt that somewhere, Surya needed to realize that he "can't always score 100 off 40 balls," something which the former himself became aware of while batting for RCB in IPL.
- "It is not a bad thing just to come a level down and spend a little time. You cannot always score 100 off 40 balls-it is not always going to happen. That is something I had to learn the hard way with the Chinnasamy crowd going wild, expecting me to score a hundred in every game. I sometimes had to tell myself, 'You know what AB, let's be honest here, you are not reading the ball very well. Just make sure you go run-a-ball and give Virat the strike or just get someone else on'. And then slowly and surely, I get one good shot and then I am back in the game," said the 39-year-old, currently working as an IPL Expert for Jio- Cinema.
- "He is probably going through a phase where he is going to realize 'I cannot entertain the crowd every single innings. Get back to the basics, do what I do best'. There will always be a sign when you get into good form; there will be a bad delivery from the bowler or you will hit a good straight drive and then you can say hold on, I am back in form and let's hurt the bowlers. He is probably in second gear now. Respect the fact that you are in second gear, find a way to get to the third and you can push from there," he explained.