If Royal Challengers Bangalore make it to the IPL final, former South African star AB de Villiers wants to be right there in the stadium to watch it live.
AB de Villiers shares a deep bond with both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Virat Kohli. The South African legend played alongside Kohli for years at the franchise, but despite their efforts, the duo never managed to win an IPL title together. Although de Villiers has retired from professional cricket, he still dreams of celebrating an IPL trophy win with Kohli.
The former Proteas batter has revealed that if Bangalore reach the final this season, he plans to be in the stadium to witness the match in person.
Kohli has been with RCB since the inaugural IPL season in 2008. De Villiers, who played for the Delhi franchise in the first three seasons, joined Bangalore in 2011 and ended his career there. His final professional match was in an RCB jersey.
De Villiers retired from cricket in November 2021. Over his 11 seasons with RCB, he produced numerous unforgettable innings and featured in two IPL finals.
In the 2011 final, RCB lost to MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings by 58 runs, crushing their title hopes. Later in 2016, under Kohli’s captaincy, they again fell short—this time losing to David Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad by 8 runs in a thrilling final.
This season, Bangalore are in a strong position. With 16 points from 11 matches, they sit second on the table and are on the verge of securing a playoff spot. A win against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday would seal their place in the next round.
Under Rajat Patidar’s leadership, RCB’s well-balanced squad is being seen by many as a serious title contender. In a recent video, de Villiers spoke about his plan if Bangalore reach the final.
“If RCB make it to the final, I’ll be at the stadium,” he said. “There’s nothing that would make me happier than lifting that trophy with Virat Kohli. We tried for many years to achieve it together.”
Over his IPL career, de Villiers played 184 matches, scoring 5,162 runs, including three centuries and 40 fifties.
