AB De Villiers Highly Impressed With Unknown Indian Youngster: ‘I Hadn’t Seen Much Of Him’
In the recent match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Eden Gardens, young spinner Suyash Sharma and veteran Sunil Narine stole the show with their brilliant performance. AB de Villiers, the South African legend, was in awe of the spin duo, especially Suyash, who was making his IPL debut for KKR. He took three wickets and ran through the RCB batting line-up on Kolkata’s home ground, leaving everyone impressed.
Suyash Sharma, who was purchased by KKR for Rs 20 lakh during the mini-auction last December, was not initially named in KKR’s playing XI against RCB but was brought in as an impact player after Venkatesh Iyer was replaced. Suyash made his presence felt on the field and showed everyone what he is capable of doing. He dismissed Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat, and Karn Sharma to finish with figures of 3 for 30 from his four overs in the IPL 2023 match. AB de Villiers was all praises for the young spinner, who rose to the occasion and impressed everyone with his exceptional bowling.
“Yeah, I hadn’t seen much of him. He was very impressive tonight. I think there will come a time where he will be put under pressure and then we will see his character. That will happen down the tournament. Very impressive performance tonight (Thursday) and he really hurt us. Most of the damage was done before this by Varun and Narine. But, a lot of credit should go to the young man. Big stage, not a lot of experience and he came and showed us what he is capable of,” De Villiers said.
‘Sunil Narine is an incredible player’
Narine, the veteran KKR spinner, aged like fine wine and set up Kolkata’s win with the massive wicket of Virat Kohli. RCB had a steady start, with 44 for 0 in the 205-run chase when Narine bamboozled Kohli’s stumps to give his team the first breakthrough. After Kohli’s early dismissal, RCB never recovered as the Faf du Plessis-led side was bowled out for 123, suffering a heavy defeat. AB de Villiers reserved special praise for Narine, who played a vital role in KKR’s win.
