AB de Villiers believes that Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) can defend their Indian Premier League (IPL) title this year and win the tournament for the second consecutive season. RCB won the IPL last year for the first time in 18 years and according to De Villiers, the team is not dependent only on Virat Kohli anymore. He noted that the RCB squad is filled with fighters and that will relieve the pressure on their talisman which will eventually work well for the franchise.
“Virat can feel that, he can sense that he is not the only one carrying the load anymore.ย He has a squad of fighters around him, all gunning to win the trophy. I think they are in a really good place. It’s a similar squad, they didn’t have to change much, and they have good reason to believe they can go all the way again this coming season,” De Villiers said while speaking to JioStar.
De Villiers also felt that RCB have the ability to become a constant challengers to become the IPL winner and also recalled what Kohli used to say all those years when they couldn’t win the trophy. “You will remember him (Kohli) speaking about it often in the dressing room, ‘If we can win one, we are going to win two, three, four quickly.ย I truly believe that. I feel RCB are in that zone now where they can go bang, bang, bang,” he added.
Kohli has the best work ethic I have ever seen in my life, says De Villiers
Virat Kohli will be returning to IPL after last being in action in January during the ODI series against New Zealand. Having retired from Tests and T20Is, Kohli’s appearances have reduced significantly and the fans are waiting eagerly for him to take the field on March 28 in the opening game of the season.
However, De Villiers reckons there will be no rust in Kohli’s batting despite the break. “He has the best work ethic I have ever seen in my life. He will not come into the tournament undercooked. If he doesn’t play well, it will purely be down to form or maybe a technical error,” De Villiers further said.
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