AB de Villiers at a recent Royal Challengers Bangalore event.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Sunday inducted Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers into the RCB Hall of Fame as a mark of respect and retired the jerseys of Villiers (17) and Gayle (333) forever from its roster. RCB returned to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium after a gap of three years. The fans were allowed to watch the full squad practice of RCB, a first-of-its-kind initiative in the T20, accompanied by RCB brand launches and the fans also witnessed the coming back of two cricketers who are now part of the RCB folklore — Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers.
De Villiers has now opened up on the ceremony and what it means to be inducted in RCB’s Hall of Fame. “I don’t know where to start really.. So, March 26th 2023 Chris and I were inducted into the RCB hall of fame and our jersey numbers retired forever. My heart blossomed as my wife, two boys and little girl walked up the stairs to enter our RCB den, stairs that I have walked up so many times with butterflies fluttering in my stomach. It felt weird to walk up there in a different state of mind,” AB de Villiers wrote in an Instagram.
“Tears filled my eyes when I stepped on to the balcony of our dressing room at the Chinnaswamy in front of a packed stadium. I never thought hearing the chants of ABD could beat the first time, but this time was different. It used to be adrenalin combined with an extreme hunger to please the cry out of our fans to find a way to win, this time it was a sea of emotion that filled my body as I simply felt grateful to have had my time in the arena representing a proud city, an amazing franchise and incredible teammates.
“So many special memories rushed back as I thought of all my days spent in India since 2003, I have a deep connection with this country and its people I’ll forever be grateful! Thank you teammates, especially Virat, thank you RCB, thank you Bengaluru.”
Topics mentioned in this article
