AB de Villiers will have his work cut-out on BBL debut as he will fill in the shoes of England's Tom Banton.
Proteas batting maverick AB de Villiers has arrived in Australia to ply his trade in the Big Bash League (BBL) 09 for Brisbane Heat.
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It will be De Villiers’ maiden BBL stint and there is a lot of expectations from him as he joined the Heat squad after a stellar outing in the Mzansi Super League (MSL) for Tshwane Spartans.
De Villiers, who called time on his international cricket career in May 2018, amassed 325 runs at a strike rate of 152.58 in MSL.
"I felt in some of the best form of my career. Hopefully, we'll see more of that in this tournament. I know what's required of me to make a play for the team. There have been some standout performances from the Heat this season and I think the team is in a really good place," AB quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.
De Villiers will have his work cut-out on BBL debut as he will fill in the shoes of England's Tom Banton, who smashed 223 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 176.
The South African acknowledged Banton’s impact at the top and hoped to emulate the same while batting in the middle order.
"Tom Banton did a fantastic job, hopefully, I'll do a similar job but in the middle order." De Villiers said before adding that there'll be inevitable pressure on his shoulders to perform.
"I always (feel pressure). Wherever I play around the world, either a club game or the World Cup semi-finals, I feel the same kind of pressure, the pressure I put on myself to perform at the best of my ability. This is no different, but I've done it so many times. It doesn't guarantee success but I know what to expect. The butterflies I'm getting in my stomach is a good sign."
"All I can do is go out and enjoy myself and hopefully have an impact on the game with the batting. Then there's the fielding and all the off-field stuff as well. I've got a big role to play as an individual not just as a cricketer and I'm looking forward to the challenge."
The fans are also excited to watch the duo of De Villiers and Chris Lynn bat together.
"It could be interesting, I don't know what to expect [about batting with Lynn]," he said. "We know each other from chatting at IPL but it's an interesting dynamic with two players at the crease, it either works or it doesn't. I've got a feeling that it's going to work and be very nice to watch. Hopefully, I'll do most of the watching at the non-striker's end."