AB de Villiers surprised one and all earlier this year when he announced retirement from international cricket. It shocked his fans all over the cricketing fraternity. But for the Indian fans, it came in as a relief that he would continue playing in the IPL.
The 34-year-old has received massive affection from the Indian contingent. He is probably the most loved overseas player in India. Due to his long-term association with RCB and Virat Kohli, for AB de Villiers, India is like his second home. Mr 360 mentioned that he is looking forward to playing in India again.
“The IPL remains the biggest T20 tournament in the world, and I can’t wait to rejoin Virat Kohli and the rest of my team-mates at Royal Challengers Bangalore, where we will all be working hard to erase the disappointments of 2018,” AB de Villiers wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.
AB de Villiers expects good things for RCB in IPL 2019
Despite having stalwarts like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, Royal Challengers Bangalore hasn’t won a single IPL so far. It’s been a mystery for all how such a strong team fails more often than not. The South African hopes to leave the past behind and expects the franchise to deliver in the next edition.
“Everybody knows RCB have the potential to win the IPL, and nobody knows quite why we have tended to perform so far below that potential, but we’re not far away, and I fully expect us to be extremely competitive in 2019,” ABD added.
Now that de Villiers doesn’t play international cricket any more, we can expect a worry-free destructive batsman to appear on the pitch. Before the IPL, he would also feature in the Mzansi Super League starting this month.
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