South Africa and RCB cricket legend AB de Villiers was all in awe for the Indian seamer Jasprit Bumrah, saying the young gun is a “brave” bowler blessed with “special skills” -who has the ability to “stick to plans” and “execute them perfectly” even in high under pressure situations.

De Villiers faced fiery Bumrah in a high-octane IPL 2019 match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) on Thursday, 28 March and the Proteas batting great said that the 25-year-old got the better of him at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.

The stylish right-hander smacked an unbeaten 70 off 41 balls but RCB couldn’t cross the line while chasing 187, as Bumrah’s Man of the Match spell of 3/20 snatched the match from the hosts here.

In his column for the Times of India, De Villiers wrote on Saturday, 30 March, “Look at the ICC rankings for ODI bowlers, and you will see that Bumrah is currently No. 1. The stats don’t lie. He (Bumrah) got the better of me in the closing overs of an exhilarating IPL clash. All credit to him because he bowled incredibly well. I look forward to the next time. It was strange at the end, I didn’t know what to do.”

He signed off by saying, “He has special skills. It may be something to do with his wrists, but he is slippery, managing to get more pace off the deck than any bowler I’ve ever faced at the Chinnaswamy. He’s also brave. Under pressure, when many panic, he sticks to his plans, backs his ability and, very often, executes perfectly.”

The RCB will next take on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Sunday 31 March in the IPL 2019.

(With Times of India Inputs)