Laxman lauds batting of AB and Virat

Former India batsman VVS Laxman has given high praise to both Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers after the pair led the Royal Challengers Bangalore to victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday.

South African De Villiers top-scored with 82 off 42 balls while Kohli hit 75 as RCB put up a formidable total of 227 for four to which the Sunrisers could only reply with 182 for six as the hosts ran out comfortable winners by 45 runs.

As a mentor for the Sunrisers, Laxman had a first hand view of the duo in full flight as he sat in the dugout of the opposition.

Laxman said about Kohli on the IPL's website: "It was magic. It is amazing to see the way Virat continues to score so consistently for whichever team he plays and whatever position he bats at.

"It is great to see the kind of level he has taken his T20 batting to; he is one of the most exciting batsmen in world cricket. His consistency and adaptability is phenomenal."

While also lauding De Villiers, Laxman feels the RCB has one of the most dangerous batting line ups in the tournament with names such as Chris Gayle and Shane Watson to call upon.

Laxman continued: "From RCB's point of view it was good to see AB de Villiers perform like that.

"He didn't have a great World Twenty20 and he must be disappointed that South Africa, despite being one of the strongest teams in the tournament, didn't qualify for the knockout stage.

"I am sure he wants to make it count in this IPL and this was a great start for him. That is one power-packed batting order that RCB have with Gayle, Virat and AB in top-three and Watson coming in as well.

"Now they also have Stuart Binny, Sarfaraz Khan and Kedar Jadhav, which make their line-up very formidable."

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