RCB to lose yet another IPL trophy? AB de Villiers' humungous prediction for his former team in IPL 2024

Former RCB legend AB De Villiers is hopeful that the Royal Challengers Bangalore will finally bring an end to their trophy-less run in the IPL in 2024. RCB play against CSK at the Chepauk to kick off their campaign.

CSK will have a new skipper in Ruturaj Gaikwad who is all set to lead the franchise in IPL 2024. This happened after MS Dhoni stepped down as the skipper a day before the 17th season started. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers have been the two oldest RCB stalwarts synonymous with the success and failure of the franchise.

AB De Villiers, who has been part of three IPL finals with RCB said that he is hopeful that the RCB men’s team would follow in the footsteps of the RCB women’s team and win the title at the end of the season.

“It’s destiny. The girls have done it and now the boys are going to come to the party. The shackles are broken; I think this is the year. It’s meant to be that way for the guys. I do believe they can win it; they will win. Look, you have got to be patient. Sports is a funny thing. It’s not predictable, otherwise it would be boring. Once the RCB men’s team gets one win, there will be many more. Hopefully, we go from strength to strength,” De Villiers said on News18.

Given Our Absolute Best: AB De Villiers On RCB Runs In IPL Over The Years

The former RCB legend looked back at RCB’s journey over the years in the UIPL. 2016 was the best campaign for the Bold Army as they made the final with Virat Kohli’s 973 runs in the season with four centuries that season as well. Unfortunately, they lost the final to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Also Read: Virat Kohli on the verge of making history; needs 6 runs to become the first Indian to reach a massive milestone

“There have been nine other superstar teams and many teams haven’t won it barring RCB. We have given our absolute best. We came close but lost three times in the final. We had our chances here and there and we have ourselves to blame but the legacy over the last few years that the seniors have left will be carried forward,” De Villiers added.

RCB managed to reach the playoffs thrice consecutively in IPL 2020, 2021, and 2022 but could not make the finals. This year they come with their hopes high after their women’s team won the WPL title.

RCB roped in six players in the IPL 2024 auction. They went for three overseas quicks in Alzarri Joseph, Lokie Ferguson, and Tom Curran as they tried to bolster their pace bowling group. They also roped in Yash Dayal who was hit for five consecutive sixes by Rinku Singh last year while he was at Gujarat Titans. Despite the new additions, they look like a batting-heavy unit with the onus of run-scoring on Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis, and Glenn Maxwell.

RCB Squad for IPL 2024

Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan.

Also Read: Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis fire warning to Ruturaj Gaikwad after they see MS Dhoni backtracking from CSK