Why is Ab de Villiers called a choker by some people?
Nandha Kumar, A huge AB de villiers fan. Who isn't these days?
Written Jun 2, 2016
Written Jun 2, 2016
WC 2011 Quarterfinal:
What people see: He failed to chase 220-odd runs against a mediocre NZ bowling line-up.
What people don’t see: He was ran-out by Faf with a brilliant piece of fielding from Guptill.
WC 2015 Semifinal:
What people see: He choked when he spilled an easy run-out chance against NZ
What people don’t see: He played a crucial knock in the same match to set a tough target for NZ.
The recently concluded IPL 2016 Final:
What people see: Failed to deliver at the big stage.
What people don’t see: En route to the IPL final , AB was MOM in 2 of the 5 crucial matches. One being the best comeback victory of all time in IPL.
It is just normal that nerves get the better of a sportsperson at crucial times.
Chris Gayle always had been a walking wicket in crucial matches except for the IPL16 final. Russell, Samuels and Brathwaite helped them to win in crunch situations.
Virat Kohli got out cheaply many a times in many important matches. MSD or someone will get the team out of trouble.
These players were never called chokers as they were never associated with it.
AB is at a disadvantage that he is a South African. Historically, they have been tagged chokers and that is a huge burden on a player’s psyche.
Ask Sachin. He has been carrying expectations of billions of people to win a world cup. He was the best limited overs player in his time and dominated all world attacks. But got out cheaply when it mattered. Would you prefer calling the guy who gave our country so much to be proud of “a big match flop” or “god of cricket” ?
AB carries an aura around him which is very unusual of a foreign cricket player. Gilchrist, Lara, Gayle, Bravo have been frantically cheered across selective grounds in India. But you can certainly hear deafening chants of “ABD!! ABD!!” in every stand in every cricket stadium. He has clearly captivated the majority of the cricket fraternity with his humility and audacious strokeplay.
A part of the minority call him “choker” because they are either biased towards another very good player who competes with AB or they like to point what’s missing rather than appreciate the sheer genius that he is or for some other reason we couldn’t care.
For us, all the AB fans out there, he is the best.
x
Amazing
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