Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman Mandeep Singh finds young Rishabh Pant's ability to hit sixes at will, strikingly similar to veteran Yuvraj Singh's best days.
Pant's 48-ball-85 was played in a losing cause as RCB beat Delhi Daredevils by six wickets with AB de Villiers' 39-ball-90 overshadowing the Rourkee youngster's innings.
"Rishabh is amazing. When we were growing up, we used to talk about Yuvraj Singh. Yuvi paa used to hit those big sixes more than anyone else. I think, in this generation, Rishabh is one name, who can smack sixes like him (Yuvraj) at will. He has immense ability," Mandeep replied to a query on Sunday.
Asked about his teammate De Villiers, Mandeep replied: "What can I say about ABIJ AB is AB. He does something or the other. I am lucky and blessed to be playing with him and witnessed one of his best innings. That's all I can say."
Mandeep reiterated that RCB is not just dependant on skipper Virat Kohli or De Villiers. "When you have two world's best batsmen in your side, it is but natural that others are taken lightly. We are not heavily dependent on them, but since they are world's best batsmen a lot of focus is on them, which is natural," he said.
AB always makes you smile: Kohli
Relieved after Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Delhi Daredevils by six wickets to bring their IPl campaign back on track, skipper Virat Kohli credited AB de villiers for the turnaround saying the South African always give the team plenty of reasons to smile.
"These 30 runs are bigger than the 90 odd in the last game. We won. We still have a few areas to correct, but when you have the brilliant AB in the team, he always makes you smile," Kohli said after de villiers blasted an unbeaten 39-ball 90 to single-handedly power RCB to a six-wicket win.
"We understand our games very well and then he starts going off. And we know if we can get a 60-70 run partnership, we could win the game. Pity I couldn't stay till the end but Corey and Andy did well."