Former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers is one of the most reputed batsmen of the current era. Emulating his ability to play shots all across the park is not an easy job. He is possibly the only player who has such a wide range of shots. Recently, de Villiers named one batsman who has a lot of similarities with him.

Meanwhile, the swashbuckling batsman stunned the world with his international retirement, one year ahead of the 2019 World Cup. It had a massive impact on South Africa, who bowed out of the mega event from the group stages. Ever since, there has been talks that AB de Villiers might return to the national set-up, especially in the shortest format.

Josh Phillips has similarities with me – de Villiers

Currently, the right-handed batsman is gearing up for IPL 2020. He will ply his trade for Royal Challengers Bangalore, who continue hunt for their maiden trophy. In a recent chat, AB de Villiers picked one batsman who has a lot of similarities with him. De Villiers also added that he is keen to have the youngster around.

“We are going to have some world-beaters in this edition, we will have Finch, Moeen Ali, Adam Zampa and Josh Philippe. I am looking forward to connecting with Josh, I see a lot of similarities between the way he plays when I was younger.

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The four guys joining us will add to what we have created here and that is a very special team environment. I am excited about Josh, I watched him play for the Sydney Sixers, he takes the new ball on, he is a very talented player, I have heard Gilchrist say really some good things about him,” he said.

Meanwhile, Josh Phillipe grabbed the headlines with his clean hitting in the last Big Bash League. He is currently in the UK with the Australia side, who are playing three-match ODI series against England. However, the 23-year-old is yet to get a game.

He boasts a strike-rate of over 130 and is a lethal striker of the ball. The Aussie batsman can be a game-changer for Bangalore in IPL 2020.