AB de Villiers snubs Virat Kohli & Shubman Gill, names best player of the IPL 2023

Former RCB star AB de Villiers has picked his choice for the best player of the IPL 2023.

Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers has named his choice for the best player of the IPL 2023 and surprisingly it’s not the rampaging Shubman Gill of Gujarat Titans (GT) or Virat Kohli of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), but instead, it’s the left-handed opener from Rajasthan Royals (RR), Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Shubman Gill has been on a mission to prove himself in the T20 format, despite becoming one of the youngest cricketers to score centuries in all three formats of the game with his T20I century coming at the Narendra Modi Stadium against New Zealand recently.

In the IPL 2023, Shubman Gill has taken the bowlers to the cleaners in almost every match. He is the Orange Cap holder for most runs with 851 runs to his name in 16 matches with three centuries and 4 fifties to his name at an average of 60.79 and strike-rate of 156.43. He has hit 78 fours and 33 sixes so far in the tournament.

He also became only the fourth batter in IPL history to make two consecutive centuries after Shikhar Dhawan, Jos Buttler, and Virat Kohli.

"Yashasvi Jaiswal for me and by a long margin for sure”- AB de Villiers on his best player in IPL 2023

However, AB de Villiers has chosen not to pick Shubman Gill as his best player of the IPL 2023 but instead went for young Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was the star for the RR in their dismal campaign.

The young opener finished the campaign as RR's highest run-scorer and is also currently fourth in the Orange Cap race. In 14 matches, Jaiswal smacked 625 runs at an average of 48.08 and 163.61 strike rate. During the season, he also hammered a ton and five half-centuries, with his high score standing at 124.

He also made the fastest-ever half-century in IPL history, with the milestone coming off 13 balls.

Speaking on JioCinema, former RCB player AB de Villiers had special praise for Jaiswal and called him his favorite player of IPL 2023.

"Yashasvi Jaiswal for me and by a long margin for sure. He is a young player and has got all the shots in the book. He has a calm and composed temperament at the wicket and I love what he does, dominating the bowlers and always looks like he is in control.

Shubman is a little bit older, I think Jaiswal's got a long way to go, and he has all the credentials to become a great,” Ab de Villiers said.

Jaiswal was rewarded for his outing in IPL and previously in the Irani Cup as he was called upto the Indian team squad for the WTC 2023 final as a standby player.