David Wiese says batting with his Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate AB de Villiers makes him feel inadequate as a batsman.
Only a match old in the IPL, David Wiese is Bangalore’s latest heartthrob.
Wiese introduced himself to the IPL with four wickets and a sterling show with the bat that almost took RCB over the line chasing the Mumbai Indians’ 209. He went in to bat at seven when AB de Viliers was wielding his magic, stayed on even as De Villiers got out and carried forward RCB’s fight. In the end, Wiese walked back to the dugout with 47 runs off 25 balls. RCB fell short of the target by 18 runs, but Wiese’s display of guts and gumption gave IPL a new star.
Here’s what he told iplt20.com at the end of the match, about his first taste of the IPL and batting with De Villiers, who ignited hope into RCB’s chase with a whirlwind 41 off 11 balls.
That was one hell of an IPL debut for you!
Oh, I will take that for my first time out there. It was quite exciting and I am happy to be on my way. It was fortunate that we had a big total like this to chase because we had no place to get an inch and had to go from ball one. We had to swing at everything and do our best at it. It worked for me tonight.
Has this whole IPL environment been overwhelming?
I have been fortunate to have played the Champions League T20 before. So I was kind of used to the idea of large crowds. But the support that RCB have here is unlike anything I have ever seen in the world. It’s just unbelievable to have the backing of such a massive crowd and a real pleasure to play for them.
How is it batting with AB de Villiers?
It makes you feel a little bit inadequate as a batsman at times, the way he plays. He is a truly unbelievable player and the best in the world right now. It was an incredible experience batting with him. When I got there, it was getting a bit of a stretch at that stage. He told me, ‘just do what you do and keep believing that you can win it because you never know. At this ground you can chase down 200. Just keep the belief’.
Did you always believe that you can do it?
We did. I was speaking to some of the guys and they said you can easily score 70-80 in the last five overs here. And we had some big hitters in the end there which meant anything was possible. It is always a bit of the batter’s game in the end, so you never know. We got close but unfortunately not close enough.
Before de Villiers went in to bat, the MI bowlers had a tight leash on the RCB batsmen. Even Gayle struggled to put bat on ball. But AB changed the whole scenario from the first ball he faced. Did it set the tone for you and the other guys coming in?
Oh, definitely. AB just shifted the momentum totally towards us. It is a lot easier to go in to bat when the bowlers are on the backfoot. I thought they bowled nicely up until then and their plans were quite good. AB just walked in and turned it around completely. To see him do that, you realize that it can be done and that you too are capable of doing it. That is a nice feeling.
