Former batting legend AB de Villiers shared his emotions and thanked his Indian Premier League franchise, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), and former teammate Virat Kohli after he was inducted into the RCB Hall of Fame ahead of IPL 2023.
De Villiers, along with another RCB legend Chris Gayle, was inducted into the Hall of Fame during the ‘Unbox’ event which marked the celebrations of the franchise's 15th anniversary at Bengaluru's iconic M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
RCB will be returning to their home ground for the first time since IPL 2019 as IPL 2023 goes back to the home and away format.
During the event, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers were presented with special mementos and as a special gesture, RCB retired their jersey numbers (333 and 17) as well.
AB de Villiers had some of his most productive years in the Indian Premier League with RCB. He featured in 144 games with close to 5,000 runs and a strike rate of 158.6. He also holds the record for the top two highest partnerships in IPL history with Virat Kohli, adding 200 runs twice.
He took to Instagram to share his emotions with a heartfelt note.
De Villiers wrote: “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.
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.”
