Tonight's Royal Challengers Bangalore versus Kings XI Punjab is a homecoming for a few former RCB players. One of these players is among modern day cricket's best batsmen,  AB de Villiers.  In their first game of this season, RCB lost to KKR away from home. A disappointing result for them and  de Villiers as he was the one who's wicket changed the whole game around. De Villiers was looking like taking the game away from his opponent before he got out.  

RCB needs a win, and so AB de Villiers has urged the fans of his team to come out in full support for the home team. In his column that he wrote for TOI, de Villiers stated, “For RCB in 2018, the M Chinnaswamy stadium must become so much more than just our home stadium in Bengaluru - it must once again become our fortress. I have grown to love the place… the atmosphere, the history and, more than anything, the supporters who fill the grandstands every time RCB take the field,” 

“Our home season starts with the visit of KXIP on Friday. We have done our homework and they are another powerful team; in fact, this already feels like the strongest IPL ever. So we will need to bat well, to bowl in the right places, to field like tigers and to get the crowd excited and energised. Then, for sure, the Chinnaswamy will roar again.” 

AB  de Villiers also has written about what went wrong for them in the last season where they finished last. He said, “In all the IPL tournaments up to and including 2016, the average run-rate at Chinnaswamy was 8.61 runs per over, the highest in all India; but, in 2017, this scoring rate slumped to 7.42 runs per over. These are the simple facts,” 

“Batsmen were struggling to get going at the ground where, on one unforgettable occasion, Chris Gayle hit 175, the highest individual score ever in the IPL, and where RCB sides have amassed 263 and 248, the highest team totals in IPL history.”