De Villiers joins Rangpur Riders squad

South African master blaster AB de Villiers joined the Rangpur Riders squad Thursday morning in Sylhet, ahead of their upcoming match against home team Sylhet Sixers Saturday.

With reigning champion Rangpur languishing at fifth position in the points table, De Villiers’ addition will boost the Riders’ squad.

De Villiers will begin training Friday, and will play the Saturday afternoon game against the Sixers.

The right-handed batsman has initially agreed a six-match deal with Rangpur, which will see him play out the remainder of the BPL’s group stage.

Riders coach Tom Moody believes the inclusion of De Villiers will certainly add more value to the squad while defending the title this season. 

Rangpur Riders sign De Villiers, Hales https://t.co/VpmFmZ8ENA#RangpurRiders have signed South African batsman #ABdeVilliers and England opener Alex Hales, according to the directly signed players' list given by the #BangladeshPremierLeague T20 governing council.

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) October 27, 2018

But he said the team need to perform collectively to win matches and produce better performances.

“I think De Villiers in any side is going to add a lot of value. But we’d be foolish as a side to think that he’s going to be the magic that’s going to make a difference. We know that yes, he is going to add value, but there are talented players that need to also continue to do the hard work. It’s a collective effort; there’s no individual that can make massive changes. But we welcome him into our side because we know we are bringing in a world-class player,” said Moody after the practice session at Sylhet District Stadium Thursday.

“As I said AB in any dressing room is gonna add value, but at the end of the day as a side we need to not just rely on his conditions; we need to individually step up and make sure that we improve our game not only with the batting, but with the ball and in the field,” Moody added.

Rangpur have won twice out of six matches.

De Villiers has played 261 T20s for a variety of franchises in the world, scoring 6,931 runs with a highest score of 133*, average of 35.18 and a staggering strike rate of 148.44.