IPL 2019: The Challenge is to Stay Positive at All Times - AB de Villiers

Royal Challengers Bangalore talisman batsman AB de Villiers believes it is crucial to stay positive at all times. It hasn’t been the best of the seasons for the Bangalore franchise as they were the first team to get knocked out of the ongoing edition. The Bangalore team will play their last match of the tournament against Sunrisers Hyderabad at their home ground.

Meanwhile, Royal Challengers Bangalore had a horrible start to the season as they lost the first six matches of the season. The Virat Kohli-led team has won four matches out of the 13 they have played in this season. Thus, they have been the wooden spooners of the ongoing IPL 2019.

Read More: iB Cricket partners with 5 IPL Teams RCB, CSK, KKR, RR and DC – IPL

It has been a disappointing performance from RCB.

In his column for the Times of India, de Villiers wrote, “The dismissive adage runs that sporting teams have an outstanding team spirit only when they are winning, and generally fall apart when they are losing. From what I have experienced over the past 15 years, the reality is not quite so simple. Far from being a mere consequence of winning, strong team spirit is an essential ingredient of sporting success; it comes before, not afterwards.”

The former Proteas captain believes that the team has remained content as a group despite the dismal performance. It hasn’t been an easy season for the players and thus the confidence of the whole unit must have gone down. In fact, it is crucial to maintain the positive energy in the group despite difficult times.

“The RCB squad has been an exceptionally happy group this year; our results may have been disappointing, and we underperformed in that horrific run of six successive defeats at the start of the tournament, and yet, as a group of people training, playing, travelling and living side by side for almost two months, we remain content and together,” de Villiers added.

Meanwhile, AB de Villiers has scored 441 runs in the 12 innings he has played for the Bangalore team in this team. The former South African star wants to end the season on a high for all the supporters of the team.

Read More: Proteas Veteran JP Duminy Calls Time on Domestic Career

We want to end on a high.

“The collective mood is emphatically upbeat ahead of our last match, against SRH at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, and we want to put on a show for our supporters and to finish on an exhilarating note. How can you be upbeat when you have been eliminated, some may ask. That is the challenge, to stay positive at all times,” de Villiers concluded.

Royal Challengers Bangalore will like to turn the tables in the next season. They were not up to the mark in the 12th season of the league and would need to come back stronger. The Bangalore franchise will play their last match of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad and would like to spoil Hyderabad chances of qualifying for the last four.