I Am Going To Be An RCBian For Life: AB de Villiers

South African player AB de Villiers pledged to support IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) throughout his life. On Friday, AB de Villiers announced his decision to retire from all forms of cricket including IPL.

AB de Villiers retires from all formats of cricket

Though the decision might have come unexpectedly but was not that surprising as Mr 360 hasn’t been playing enough cricket around the year.

De Villiers struggled to score runs in the second leg of IPL 2021 for RCB and ended up the season with 313 runs from 15 matches at the strike rate of 148.34.

I’m going to be an RCBian for life: AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers was a lynchpin of the RCB batting line-up over the years and is the only other player apart from skipper Virat Kohli to play for the franchise for more than a decade.

The former South African skipper said that he will continue to support RCB even after retiring from the game. He also called RCB his family and acknowledged for the connections he made at the franchise.

“I’m going to be an RCBian for life. Every single person in the RCB set-up has become family to me. People come & go, but the spirit & the love we have for each other at RCB will always remain. I’ve become half Indian now & I’m proud of that,” de Villiers said in a video uploaded on RCB’s official Twitter handle.

AB de Villiers announced his international retirement in 2018 and despite several possibilities were made to bring him back to international cricket, nothing worked out.

Spoke to @ABdeVilliers17 yesterday about his decision, and all I can tell you is he had a lump in his throat too! And his love for RCB is evident in this video. “I’m always an RCBian, he said!” ❤️ #ThankYouAB https://t.co/Gtvdu9Q56P

— Ajith Ramamurthy (@Ajith_tweets) November 19, 2021

RCB finished third on the points table with 18 points in IPL 2021 but were eliminated from the knockout stage by Kolkata Knight Riders.

Virat Kohli stepped down from the captaincy role after leading RCB for nearly a decade. AB de Villiers was considered to be the next captain given his seniority and wide level of experience with the franchise.

Now that the former South African player has retired from the game, it will be a big puzzle for the franchise to find a potential leader.

Also Read: Ab de Villiers Announces Retirement From All Forms Of Cricket Including IPL