A fan asks AB de Villiers if he ever thought of representing CSK; Mr. 360 gives a pleasing response
"I really enjoy the franchise, the vibe, the people," de Villiers said.
AB de Villiers, the former South African batsman, has been a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League since 2011. Now after honing his skills for nine seasons, the veteran wishes to play for them for the rest of his life. He started playing under New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori’s leadership after which Virat Kohli, who’s also Team India’s skipper, became his captain.
Having notched 4,395 runs for the franchise at an average of 39.95, the Pretoria-born is their second-highest run-scorer after Kohli. The hard-hitting Protea also scored a couple of centuries for them in 2015 and 2016 to go with 30 half-centuries.
About playing for the Challengers, the 36-year-old De Villiers said that he has made some friends and he has enjoyed the atmosphere out there. The right-hander expressed his opinion during an Instagram Live with commentator Pommie Mbangwa.
“Obviously, playing for Bangalore for the first three-four years, going into your fifth year, I realised I would love to play here for the rest of my life. I really enjoy the franchise, the vibe, the people. You create friendships you don’t want to leave. Then I started feeling that I actually want to play for RCB,” de Villiers was quoted as saying during the chat.
I don’t think the CSK thing is going to happen: AB de Villiers
During the interaction, one of the fans asked him if he would like to play for the Chennai Super Kings, captained by MS Dhoni. However, he replied saying that he never had a chance to make a choice of franchise. He also reckons that chances of his stint with CSK is unlikely.
“Because of the system in the IPL, I’ve never had a choice. I have played with Delhi Daredevils, and then they released me after the first three seasons, after which Bangalore picked me up. The entire first part of my IPL career was out of my hands,” he stated.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think the CSK thing is going to happen. It’s good to play against them, though. It’s always a great battle,” de Villiers added.
For the Daredevils, now Capitals, de Villiers scored 671 runs in 28 matches with a century and three fifties before being released ahead of the 2011 edition.
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