With the fast-approaching second phase of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers has started to fine-tune his batting skills.
De Villiers, who has retired from international cricket four years back, will turn up for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the T20 league, slated to resume on September 19 in UAE.
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On Monday (September 13), De Villers hit the nets and was seen trying to smash the ball all over the park.
Taking to Twitter, RCB shared a video of De Villers’ net session, in which the 37-year-old called himself an "old man" who needs to stay fresh as much as he can to meet the demands of playing competitive cricket.
"It was very good. The wicket was a bit sticky so it was quite tough actually. Bowlers bowled very well and it's humid here, we are gonna sweat a lot which is good for losing a bit of weight but for an old man like me, I need to stay fresh as much as I can," he said.
"It was a great session and was nice to see everyone out there. All the guys are looking very eager to get going. I am looking forward to tomorrow's warm-up game," he added.
AB de Villiers was in fine form in the first phase of IPL 2021, scoring 207 runs from seven games at a strike rate of 164.28 with two half-centuries.
The Protea said he felt nice about reuniting with his RCB teammates after the first half of IPL, which was suspended in May owing to COVID-19 cases in the bio-bubble of multiple franchises.
"Absolutely, I have missed the guys. I have caught up with a couple of individuals and I will get to meet up with the older guys over the next few days.
“I have covered a couple of guys tonight and it's nice to hear all the stories and what they got up to in the last couple of months. There's some interesting stuff that has happened and, it's great to be together as a team again."
Having won 5 out of their 7 games, RCB are occupying the third position on the IPL 2021 points table. They will resume their campaign against KKR on September 20 in Abu Dhabi.
