Former Indian opener, Gautam Gambhir reckons the second phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 will be a bigger challenge for Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will be resuming their campaign in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Kohli has only played Test cricket in England since IPL 2021 got postponed due to Covid-19 earlier this year while the retired de Villiers hasn’t been on a field since RCB’s last game against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on April 30.

Gautam Gambhir therefore, feels both batsmen will face a massive challenge at hand when they get back into the mindset of T20 cricket in the UAE.

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During a show in Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir said, “See there’s going to be a challenge for Virat and there’s going to be a huge challenge for AB de Villiers as well because he will be coming into the tournament without playing any cricket at all. Virat Kohli will have to adjust really quickly because there’ll be hardly any time for him to get used to it.”

He further added, “From the five-Test-match series to the T20 format, and AB as well, because these guys need to get runs if they have to have a chance to first qualify for the playoffs and then probably go on to win the title.”

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IPL 2021 was initially postponed indefinitely after just 29 matches on May 4 due to the second wave of Covid-19 in India. RCB will be resuming its campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on September 20 in Abu Dhabi. IPL 2021 will be resuming on September 19 in Abu Dhabi with a game between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).