AB de Villiers Opened Up On His IPL Stint With Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

AB de Villiers recently opened up on his stint with the IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and spoke about his love for the nation of India.

Two names Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers are synonymous with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The two talismans raised the batting standards in the IPL year after year and shattered numerous records along the way. Former Proteas wicketkeeper-batter AB de Villiers retired from all forms of cricket after IPL 2021 but a few months later, he has talked about his glory days with the franchise.

AB de Villiers: RCB Like A Family; It’s Been A Life-Changing 10-11 Years

While speaking to the RCB podcast, the modern-day great remarked that his stint with the team changed his life.  AB de Villiers retired from IPL as the sixth highest run-getter in the tournament and one of the two overseas players to scale the mountain of 5000 runs.

AB de Villiers retired from all forms of cricket in November 2021, making the 2021 season of the IPL his last IPL season. He played seven matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2021 and smashed 207 runs at a strike rate of 164.28 averaging 51.75.

The 37-year-old had played in 184 IPL matches, firstly for Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) for three seasons, followed by a successful decade with Bangalore, where he formed a formidable partnership with Virat Kohli. Overall, he scored 5162 runs at an average of 39.70 and strike rate of 151.68, including three centuries and 40 half-centuries while being a member of the Royal Challengers Bangalore side, which entered the IPL playoffs five times.

“RCB to me is family. I mean it has been a life-changing 10-11 years to me. Like any other family, there are ups and downs. There are beautiful, there are amazing rides; there’s a bit of everything.

“There are good relationships and then there are those which go sour and that is all part of the fun. I look back with no regrets. I think back on my career at RCB as the most amazing years of my life,” elaborated AB de Villiers.

The former Proteas wicketkeeper-batsman recently called time on his illustrious career, but that was a decision that was already made before its confirmation. AB de Villiers retired from all forms of cricket late last year, after having completely ruled out any possibility of returning to the Proteas fold months earlier.

AB de Villiers Had The Privilege Of Experiencing IPL

India and AB de Villiers love each other unconditionally and the people of the great nation will continue to adore him. Whenever he set the stage on fire in the IPL, the people of India lavished rich praise on him.

While talking about his relationship with the sub-continent country, AB de Villiers commented: “I have had the privilege of experiencing IPL cricket, the Indian crowd, and the Indian way of doing things for the last 15 years.

“Obviously growing up in India would have been interesting. Maybe I would have never played for India, who knows. It is tough to make it to the Indian team; you have to be a special player.”

AB de Villiers represented the Proteas for 16 years at the highest level. In that period he played 114 Tests, 228 ODIs, and 78 T20s for South Africa, doubling up as wicketkeeper-batsman. He was also no slouch on the field he was also deployed elsewhere when not wearing the gloves behind the stumps.

But it was undoubtedly with the bat in hand where he made his name and shone the most for the Proteas. The 37-year-old notched up a mind-boggling 20,017 runs across all formats of the game for South Africa. He also holds the unique record of being the fastest batter to reach 50, 100, and 150 in ODIs.