South African cricketer AB de Villiers uploaded a video on his Instagram account for Royal Challengers Bangalore fans on Wednesday, 23 May, apologising to the team’s fans for a disappointing season but added that the team would make a stronger comeback in the 2019 season of the Indian Premier League.
In the video, de Villiers thanked fans of RCB for having stood behind the team and supported it throughout the season despite the team not performing well but added that he still felt they had a fantastic team. Apologising for the poor show this season, he said, “I have a really good feeling we’ll come back stronger next year.”
He also added that this was the most enjoyable IPL that he had played.
“Enjoy the knockouts. Unfortunately, we won’t be there”, he said, adding that it would be a very exciting end to the tournament.
The batsman, who won the hearts of RCB fans with his powerful batting and pyrotechnics on the field announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket on Twitter on Wednesday, saying that he was ‘tired’ and ‘running out of gas’.
De Villiers’ decision to quit international cricket came as a huge shock and disappointment to fans of the cricketer everywhere but what remains in doubt is his IPL career, since he said that he has no plans to play overseas cricket. But his message to RCB fans leaves some chance of him returning to the game next year, or so we can hope.
We can only wish that he does, and that we can see more of those gravity-defying catches and that batting!
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