IPL 2019: AB de Villiers looks forward to meeting Virat Kohli and RCB mates

He might have called it a day in international cricket but for AB de Villiers, cricket is still not a thing of the past. The hard-hitting South African batsman has now focused on playing in the T20 format around the world, including in India where he has been a top contributor in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The former Proteas skipper has recently said that he is looking forward to meeting Virat Kohli, the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), the team he plays for in the tournament along with other mates ahead of the next season.

De Villiers, who is also set to play in Pakistan Super League and Bangladesh Premier League this season, has been one of RCB’s most prolific scorers but is yet to see his side lifting the trophy for the first time. RCB have played the final thrice and the last time they did so was in 2016 when they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the title round. The last two seasons have been disappointing as the team ended up in the bottom half.

“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,” de Villiers, who will turn 35 in February, wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo.

De Villiers has scored 3,953 runs in 141 matches in the IPL at an average of almost 40 and a strike rate of 150-plus. He has hit three centuries in the tournament, two of which came for the RCB while the remaining one for Delhi Daredevils, the team he played for earlier.

De Villiers writes on RCB jinx in IPL

“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,” de Villiers said.

The RCB made it to the finals in 2009, 2011 besides 2016 but lost to now defunct Deccan Chargers, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers, respectively.

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