Royal Challengers Bangalore have received a huge boost ahead of starting their preparations for IPL 2020 as their South African contingent has landed in UAE. The thirteenth edition of the tournament will be played entire in UAE because of the coronavirus pandemic situation in India. IPL 2020 is scheduled to start on September 19 while the final is on November 10.
Royal Challengers Bangalore left for Dubai on Friday (August 21) and landed in the gulf country at evening. And just hours later, they received their South African stars – AB de Villiers and Chris Morris. There were some huge doubts over the timely arrival of the South African players since their government has sealed the border to control the pandemic.
However, AB de Villiers and Morris have joined their team in time for preparations of IPL 2020. The franchise took to Twitter to post a video of the South African stars onboard a flight. Morris could be seen saying ‘on the way’ as he and AB de Villiers could be seen giving thumbs up. Interestingly, Dale Steyn was not on the flight. The right-arm pacer is set to ply his trade for the Bangalore-based outfit this year.
Here is the tweet from Royal Challengers Bangalore:
If you were feeling excited today, RCB fans, here’s the cherry on the cake! @Tipo_Morris and @ABdeVilliers17 are on their way! ?#PlayBold #TravelDay #IPL2020 pic.twitter.com/yBIhP4tmVf
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) August 21, 2020
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be looking to end their title drought in the upcoming season. They have made it to the final of the competition thrice – 2009, 2011 and 2016 – but ended up on the wrong side of the result on every occasion. Their performance in the last few years has been a lot worse.
Since making it to the final in 2016, they have not managed to make it past the league stage. In last three seasons, they have finished at the bottom twice while on the other occasion, they finished at a lowly sixth spot in the eight-team competition.