Mandeep Singh had the best seat in the house on Wednesday when AB de Villiers slammed 66 off 38 against Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League eliminator at Pune. The youngster has no qualms about admitting that it is a great experience watching the genius bat from the non-striker's end.
"There are a lot of things that I try to do like AB," 23-year-old Mandeep said in an interview to iplt20.com. He is RCB's new kid on the block and even skipper Virat Kohli is going ga-ga.
In the must-win game against Rajasthan, the Mandeep and 'superman' De Villiers added 113 runs to dig Royal Challengers Bangalore out of a tight spot at 46/2. Mandeep slammed 54 not out off 34 balls, but the way De Villiers batted left him in awe.
Their century stand took Bangalore to 180 for 4, and while De Villiers batted, Mandeep observed carefully how the South African maestro constructed his innings. It was without a doubt a great way to learn as Mandeep admitted after the match.
"I have learnt a lot from him already and whatever he has taught me, I have straightaway incorporated those things in my game. It is already helping me in my game and I can see a lot of positive results in my batting," the Jalandhar-born all-rounder said.
Mandeep's unbeaten 54 was his first half-century for Bangalore in the IPL, his previous three had come while playing for Kings XI Punjab. Also the 113-run stand with De Villiers was Bangalore's highest third wicket partnership against any opponent in the IPL. They went past the 103 between Kohli and De Villiers against Delhi Daredevils in the 2013 edition.
The India Under-19 cricketer also emphasised how he worked on keeping his head still after some advice from De Villiers himself.
"I have worked on the balance of my head. Initially when I was playing my shots, the completion of the shot would end with my head leaning towards the off-stump," said the 23-year-old.
The improvement is evident from the way Mandeep batted while scoring 45 not out to take his side to victory against Kolkata Knight Riders in a 10-over game earlier in the tournament. However, Mandeep rates his knock against Rajasthan a little higher.
"This half century is very satisfying because we wanted to get a score of 150 plus on this pitch and I was happy to stay there right till the very end.
"AB de Villiers and I thought that anything around 150 would be great and finishing on 180 was very satisfying. I think the occasion of this innings makes it a lot more valuable. Getting an important knock in the eliminator is really heartening because it was a big occasion. I feel I played really well in this game."
After having seen De Villiers bat from such close quarters, Mandeep does not have enough words to describe him.
"I think even modern day cricketer consider him his idol. It is like a dream come true to be playing with him," Mandeep said.