Indian Premier League 2020: Shahbaz Nadeem reveals his plan that he used to dismiss AB de Villiers

SunRisers Hyderabad’s Shahbaz Nadeem took the prized scalp of the in-form AB de Villiers in their game against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday (October 31) at Sharjah. The wicket came at a crucial juncture in the game and was instrumental in SRH’s eventual 5-wicket win over RCB.

Following the victory, the left-arm spinner Nadeem spoke about his ‘plan’ which he used to remove the dangerous South African. In a video posted on the official Twitter handle of IPL, Nadeem revealed the same in a chat with fellow SRH bowler Sandeep Sharma.

Talking VK & ABD with @sandeep25a & Nadeem

Together they got the big wickets of Virat Kohli & AB de Villiers and together they relished their big moments in a post-match chat in Sharjah.

WATCH https://t.co/pur0QQ4uZm #Dream11IPL |@SunRisers pic.twitter.com/JsLWfKK7gS — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 1, 2020

 

While it may come as a surprise to many, the 32-year-old said that there are no plans when you bowl to someone of ABD's caliber.

"The plan to bowl against AB de Villiers is to go ahead with no plan. He plays differently in every innings so there is no point in planning," said Nadeem.

"When I dismissed him, he had already hit me for a six, earlier in the same over. So I thought about bowling him at around the off stump and luckily the ball went straight to deep extra cover," he said.

AB de Villiers wicket sparked a dramatic turnaround in favour of SRH. RCB could only manage 120/7 from their 20 overs. Before ABD’s dismissal, the score read 71/2 inside 11 overs with the reigns of the match up for grabs. De Villiers, so often RCB’s saving grace this season, couldn’t repeat his heroics as he got out for 24 (off 24 balls). Nadeem finished with figures of 4-0-35-1.

"It was a big wicket for us. After de Villers' wicket, it got easy for us to bowl in the death overs."

Chasing the sub-par total, SRH cruised to victory in just 14/1 overs with an all-round batting effort. With this victory, SRH also kept alive their hopes of securing the all-important IPL 2020 playoffs berth.