Will the real AB de Villiers please stand up?

27 May 2016 - 09:50 By Telford Vice

If you've tuned in to the coverage of the Indian Premier League these past seven weeks and not seen AB de Villiers putting some hapless attack to the sword, don't go buying any lottery tickets. De Villiers owns the highest score in the tournament - an undefeated 129 smashed off 52 balls - and the best strike rate, 170.07, among batsmen who have had at least 10 innings.Even so, South Africans watching from afar will feel conflicted. It's wonderful that one of their own is performing so well. But how come he isn't the same AB Fab quite so often when he plays for SA? The question comes in the shadow of De Villiers reaching 50 only five times in the 20 innings he has had for SA since December."Whether he performs or not the rest of the guys have to stand up," teammate Farhaan Behardien said. "AB is only human. Just. We need to take the pressure off him - that's when he plays his best."The other side of that coin is that De Villiers is going to have to show he still holds the national cause dear, having failed to deny rumours in December that he was considering retirement...

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