AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli (Image Credit: Twitter)
AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli (Image Credit: Twitter)

South African legend AB de Villiers look set to return to the Indian Premier League from next season and the news has been pretty much confirmed by none other than his good friend Virat Kohli. For the first time since the inception of IPL in 2008, de Villiers is not a part of the tournament. The former Royal Challengers Bangalore had announced his retirement from all forms of cricket after the conclusion of last year’s IPL.

Before retiring, de Villiers was one of RCB’s most importance players since joining the franchise in 2011. During his time with the team, he helped them make it to the playoffs five times. De Villiers also helped RCB qualify for the IPL final twice. He played 156 matches for RCB and scored 4,491 runs. The former South Africa skipper is the second all-time leading run-scorer for the franchise. He also holds the record for second and third-highest individual score for RCB with 133* against Mumbai Indians (in 2015) and 129* against Gujarat Lions (in 2016).

AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers (Image Credit: Twitter)

Virat Kohli on AB de Villiers’ return to IPL:

RCB as well as fans have missed the sight of AB de Villiers in IPL this season but it looks like he will be back next year. Speaking to Danish Sait aka ‘Mr Nags’, Kohli stated that he misses de Villiers and talks to him regularly. Kohli then went on to drop a hint on a possible return for de Villiers to RCB.

“I miss him a lot. I speak to him regularly, quite regularly. He keeps messaging me,” Kohli said during the conversation. “He was in the US recently watching golf. Augusta Masters is what I heard it was called. So he told me he was there experiencing it with his friends and family.

“So we stay in touch and he’s very keenly watching RCB and hopefully here next year in some capacity,” added Kohli  while sporting a wry smile on his face.