Mirpur (Bangladesh), July 4: Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha has sounded helpless as he shared game plans to stop prolific batsman AB de Villiers.

Joking, he said all one could do is pray to see the back of the South African early, reports bdnews24.com.

Every team remains most concerned with de Villiers when playing against the Proteas. The tourists may boast more than one explosive batsmen but de Villiers has taken himself to a new height.

Almost no weakness in technique, the right-handed batsman can play every shot in the cricket book but his range of innovative shots makes life difficult for the bowlers.

"I can say only one thing about de Villiers - bowl and pray for his dismissal. He is arguably the best batsman in the world, a complete batsman. No plan works against him. He can be restrained by bowling in the good areas. One can plan to contain him on the wicket as far as possible. Who knows if it will work! He's also a human after all," Hathurusingha said.