You’re a fast bowler, about to bowl the last over of an IPL match. The opposition requires 15 runs to win and the batsman on strike is AB de Villiers. Put any bowler in the world in this scenario and you will have made his cricketing nightmare come true. We, at IPLT20.COM did just that, albeit hypothetically, to one of the most feared fast bowlers of his time, and someone who knows de Villiers’s game inside out. Allan Donald, the former South Africa bowling coach and currently the bowling mentor of Royal Challengers Bangalore, reveals what his strategy would be if he were to be faced with that situation. The South African legend lists out the six balls he would bowl in that over and what field he would have in place. Here’s calling all the bowlers around the world to listen up. The field You’ve got five fielders out and I think the field placement is very crucial here. I would have a predominantly on-side field. I would have a fine-leg, square-leg, a deep cow and a long-on. I’ll have mid-on and mid-off up and a deep extra-cover. My third-man would be back. Gameplan I would bowl short and stay away from his feet because he can reverse, he can paddle and he can play the orthodox sweep as well. Bowling at his feet is a no-go. He’s going to lap it for six. I’d mostly bowl bouncers to him but one ball I’ll have to bluff him. I’d use my bouncer and slower bouncer well. The Over Ball-one: My first ball would be a fast bouncer. I’d want him to hit me to that leg-side. With four fielders in the deep a batsman has no chance of hitting a boundary. I think Australia did that pretty well against him in the World Cup. They peppered him and he kept hooking to those fielders. Ball-two: Second ball will again be a quick bouncer. Ball-three: The third ball will be a short ball but slower and on the off-stump. It has to be a hard slow ball that stands up so that there is no real pace to work with. Ball-four: The fourth delivery I’ll have to bluff him with a yorker. With the third man back and the deep extra-cover I’ll have to be brave and go for a wide yorker. Ball-five: For the fifth ball I’ll probably go for a hard back-of-a-length slower wide ball. Ball-six: For the final ball, he’d probably try and run down at me so I’ll again go very hard, back of a length but I’ll bowl into his ribs so that it cramps him for room. Disclaimer This would be my execution of an over to AB de Villiers but he just comes up with plans. I am just giving you six balls that I might bowl but I still don’t know whether that’s going to be good enough. He is the one batsman in the world who gives you no choices to what to work with. And even if you try to bluff, he can adjust to that bluff really quickly and that is the scary bit. Insight from AB We’ve had chats during the training and he would share some ideas saying, if the bowler bowls here, this is what I am going to do. He said, ‘If I am going outside the off-stump to try and play the lap shot with the fine-leg up, even if the bowler goes a bit wide, I am still going to go for the shot but the other way’. So, he can cover 360 degrees and if he is poised to play on one side of the wicket, he can easily change his position to play on the opposite side. That is just scary. He never practices those scoops and ramps – just sees the ball and reacts. He told us that all he focuses on his watching the ball all the time. Sometimes, he goes into the shot early. But he does that to make the bowler do something else. But even if he goes early, he can easily adjust to what the bowler is trying to do. Good luck, bowlers Good luck to all the bowlers who come up against him. All I can say is that I am glad he is on my team in so that I don’t have to form plans with my bowlers on how to bowl to him. It must be a nightmare for bowlers to talk about AB de Villiers!