AB de Villers feels Kohli. DH FILE PHOTO
AB de Villiers remains a doubt for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s second match as the right-hander battles a sore back.
The South African didn’t travel to Hyderabad for RCB’s first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday, and preferred to wait and see if his back holds alright after Thursday’s ‘nets’ here at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
“I'm going to test it out this (Thursday) afternoon. We've got a nets session. I'll hit a couple of balls, see what it feels like and then we'll make a call,” he said. In the absence of the injured KL Rahul, RCB entrusted Kedar Jadhav with wicketkeeper’s job against Sunrisers and he was less than impressive behind the stumps. De Villiers, however, ruled out doubling up as a stumper, a job he has sporadically done for the RCB in the past.
“Definitely not,” he said when asked if he would think of wearing the big gloves again. “I'll miss the next five years if I start ’keeping again. My back won't allow that. My back is sore because of all those years of ’keeping.”
De Villiers also backed Virat Kohli’s decision to stay off action till he fully recovers from his shoulder injury.
“I think that's how it should be,” he said. “No matter where you're playing or when. I don't think any guy should step on the field if he's not 100%. I've always done it that way. Even though I'm very very keen to get on the field, I'll make sure that I'm 100% fit because if you go on the park and you're 90%, you might be out for longer anyway. It doesn't make sense,” he offered.