Dubai: For all the hype of a dream batting line-up that the Royal Challengers Bangalore enjoyed in the build-up to the IPL VII, it has fired only in fits and starts so far.

South Africa’s A.B. de Villiers is one of their few galacticos who have shown a semblance of consistency so far — being the only RCB batsman to figure among the top-10 after Friday’s game.

The captain of Proteas’ one-day team and one of the most destructive batsman in contemporary cricket, ‘A.B.’ figures in the ninth spot with 224 runs and a strike rate of 149.33.

The runs have come at No.5 position behind the likes of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh but De Villiers is perfectly happy with the role assigned to him.

“The No.5 role offers a bit of everything I think. That’s what I like about that position. I get challenged with a different situation every time and it’s up to me to adapt and make it count,” he said in an interview with Gulf News.

The ongoing edition of IPL has seen new batting heroes emerge so far with Maxwells, Smiths and Millers dominating the headlines ahead of usual suspects like Gayle, Kallis or even Dhoni. Asked about the phenomenon of a Maxwell or David Warner using the T-20 format to graduate to more serious forms of cricket, De Villiers said: “The game of cricket is bigger than any individual and will always keep evolving. There is no doubt in my mind that all of us will be old news in 20 years’ time.”

Bigger and better

Adding on a more serious note, DeVilliers said: “It’s important for all of us to keep playing a part in making all formats bigger, better and more exciting, and so far so good I think.”

While RCB is a little precariously placed with only three wins in eight games, De Villiers feels barring the top two teams like Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings, there is very little to choose from the rest of the pack as all of them need to win their games from now on.

“I still believe we can go all the way this year. We have a bunch of talented, energetic and enthusiastic guys and it’s an absoulte pleasure playing in an envronment like this,” he said.

Looking beyond the IPL, the smiling assassin from Pretoria will be shouldering the responsibility of South African cricket a lot in the post-Graeme Smith and Kallis era. The Test captaincy is just round the corner, and this time De Villiers will miss the company of his erstwhile skipper Smith for all those marathon partnerships.

Not the one to shy from the responsibility. De Villiers said: “It’s a great challenge and I am very excited.”