'Commentators were so negative' - AB de Villiers slams criticism during RCB's bowling versus LSG IPL 2025 clash

The former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) cricketer AB de Villiers was not happy with the remarks about the franchise during the final Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Lucknow.

RCB chased down 228 with the help of Jitesh Sharma and moved to 2nd in the points table to secure a Qualifier 1 spot. In the first innings, LSG skipper Rishabh Pant scored an unbeaten century and took his team to a massive total. This made the commentators mention that RCB became weak in their bowling attack due to the absence of Josh Hazlewood.

“I listened to the commentators last night, and honestly, it got me so angry. They were so negative when we were bowling. They kept saying, ‘RCB’s bowling is under pressure. They don’t look like they’re going to manage it. Once again, an in-form team is starting to lose momentum.’ But what about this - maybe it was just a really good batting wicket, guys? To all you very clever and sharp commentators out there, how about considering the possibility that it was an excellent surface for batting?" De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.

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Commentators get fixated on a narrative: De Villiers

The former South African skipper admitted that the commentators get stuck in a certain narrative. He conceded that without a proper idea about the situation on the field, they started to say that RCB bowlers are not effective.

“They went on about how RCB’s bowling unit was once again in poor form. As I watched the match, I thought: sometimes commentators get fixated on a narrative. Yes, RCB have never won a title, but it’s lazy to keep saying, ‘Here we go again. The bowlers are failing, they’re useless,’ without properly analysing what’s happening on the field. Rishabh Pant is not going to score 118 off 60-odd balls on a tricky, very difficult pitch. All the LSG batters were fluent out there,” de Villiers said.

Besides, the right-handed batter acknowledged that RCB had some poor spells in certain situations, but never went out of the contest.

“Yes, there was some poor bowling at times. But ultimately, one must look at the bigger picture- 227 runs on a wicket that typically doesn’t support such batting suggests it was simply a very good surface. RCB were still in the contest; they weren’t blown away, and they proved that,” De Villiers concluded.