• ABD hailed Mortaza's ability to lead from the front.

  • De Villiers made his BPL debut for Rangpur Riders in 2018 under the captaincy of Mortaza.

AB de Villiers opens up about his bonding with Mashrafe Mortaza
AB de Villiers, Mashrafe Mortaza (Image Source: Twitter)

AB de Villiers’ exploits with the bat have earned him a lot of plaudits across the world. ABD might have retired from the international arena, but he is still among the most hyped-up names in franchise-based T20 leagues.

Be it the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Bangladesh Premier League (BBL) or any other T20 extravaganza, the Proteas star has proved his mettle time and again with a remarkable display of explosiveness, athleticism and grit.

Recently, ‘Mr. 360°’ has heaped praises on Mashrafe Mortaza, the former Bangladesh skipper, and stated that the two of them share striking similarities.

To the unversed, De Villiers has featured for Rangpur Riders (RR) under the leadership of Mortaza in his debut season of BPL in 2018.

“We have a lot of similarities, and I think that’s why we got along so well. He also got the same credentials in a way he loves to fight never say die kind of character, and he loves the pressure moments, and, he loves the person to stand up at the pressure moments so, there is a lot of similarity between us,” De Villiers told Cricfrenzy.

“Mortaza is always calm under pressure’: De Villiers

Mortaza, popularly known as the ‘Narail Express’, is arguably the most successful limited-overs captain for Bangladesh. He has a notable distinction of leading his nation to a series victory against both India (2-1) and Pakistan (3-0) in 2015.

De Villiers further remarked that Mortaza always puts the team ahead of any individual and this makes him an extraordinary captain.

“There are a lot of things that we see each other, and we really enjoyed as players, and that is why I really enjoyed playing under him, I had a lot of fun as the captain, and he is calm under pressure. He always got the team in mind instead of individuals,” De Villiers concluded.

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