Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli and ace batsman AB de Villiers spoke about the franchise's chances of winning the IPL 2021 which will begin from April 9. The RCB had reached the playoffs in the IPL 2020 in UAE and the duo feels that this time, the team can go all the way.
Kohli also said that he is excited to see IPL return to India and he’s optimistic about RCB going all the way this season in a different setting.
After being held in UAE last year, the most lucrative T20 league, IPL 2021, is all set to commence from 9th April in India with Virat Kohli’s RCB talking on Rohit Sharma’s MI in a season opener.
With less than 10 days remaining for the first match, RCB skipper Virat Kohli arrived in Chennai to join his team ahead of their IPL 14 campaign.
IPL 2021: Virat Kohli joins Royal Challengers Bangalore in Chennai ahead of the tournament
Kohli will now undergo a mandatory seven-day quarantine as he opted out of the bubble-to-bubble transfer after the recently-concluded ODI series against England and decided to visit home before arriving in Chennai.
In a video posted by RCB on their social media, skipper Virat Kohli expressed his excitement about his team's IPL 2021 campaign and said that he is very optimistic about RCB going all the way this season in a different setting.
"It feels surreal. Honestly, it doesn't feel like we went away for too long as there was a lot of cricket in between as well but yeah, very excited that we are playing in India again. Although in a different way, in a different setting. I am very optimistic and yes I have a good feeling this time around," Virat Kohli said.
Apart from Virat Kohli, RCB's South African star AB de Villiers, who also arrived in Chennai on Thursday (1st April) was delighted to be back and feels the side can carry on the winning momentum from last year's tournament.
"It was a long journey. Very happy to be back with RCB, it feels like yesterday that we finished the IPL. I feel we have the momentum from the last tournament and we'll have a lot of fun," AB De Villiers said.
De Villiers further named his teammates Dan Christian and Glenn Maxwell to suggest his prior bonds with them. The South African hoped that they can together contribute to a lot of RCB's wins this year.
"There are some new names but also old names, the people I have known for ages. Dan (Christian) has been with RCB before, it's Maxi's (Maxwell) first time but we all have seen him so often in the IPL, hopefully, a lot of games for us to win together," he said.
(ANI inputs)
