Known affectionately as ABD, De Villiers made his IPL debut with the Delhi Daredevils franchise before establishing himself as a cornerstone player with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Over the span of a decade, he, alongside Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle, crafted a legacy that left an indelible mark on the league, despite RCB’s trophy cabinet remaining empty.
Having bid farewell to active playing, De Villiers now expresses eagerness to return to the IPL in a different capacity. The cricketing legend hinted at taking on a mentorship role, revealing discussions with Kohli about working closely with the team’s batters. With his strategic acumen and unparalleled batting prowess, De Villiers could offer invaluable insights to the RCB squad.
Before delving into mentoring, De Villiers has another intriguing venture lined up for IPL 2024. He disclosed plans to explore the world of commentary, adding a new dimension to his IPL journey. Mumbai awaits the arrival of the South African sensation as he prepares to lend his voice and expertise to the electrifying atmosphere of IPL matches.
Reflecting on his illustrious IPL career, De Villiers leaves behind a legacy marked by brilliance on the field. With over 5000 runs in 184 matches, at a staggering average of 39.71 and a blistering strike rate of 151.69, he earned a reputation as one of the league’s most lethal finishers. His tally of three centuries underscores his ability to excel under pressure, even in the lower middle order.
As fans eagerly anticipate De Villiers’ return, whether on the field or behind the mic, his presence promises to elevate the IPL experience. With his wealth of experience and undying passion for the game, ABD continues to inspire cricket enthusiasts worldwide, ensuring that his legacy transcends beyond the cricket field.
]]>RCB will pay Cameron Green as much as Mumbai Indians bought him for the IPL 2023 auction. RCB’s director of Cricket Mo Bobat recently talked about the reason why they chose Green to be part of the RCB squad.
“He’s the ideal fit for us in that middle-order power role. He’s a high-quality, skillful and powerful batsman. He’s got the game against both pace and spin. He’s got international experience across formats and I’m sure he will enjoy batting at the Chinnaswamy. So, seeing him do that will be really exciting. He’s also a fantastic bowler and he bowls with pace and bounce, which were certainly attributes we were looking for particularly in our home conditions. Let’s not forget what an exceptional fielder he is. Some of the catches he has taken in recent times fielding at gully is seriously impressive”, answered Mo Bobat, Director of cricket, Royal Challengers Bangalore.
IPL 2024: Shubman Gill appointed as the new captain of Gujarat Titans
“If I go back to mid-morning yesterday [Sunday], we were pretty clear on our retention and release decisions and we had communicated it to all of our players. We were pretty clear on what that meant for our auction priorities. So, I felt like we were going to have a fairly quiet afternoon. If you look at the retention and the decisions we made, we’ve obviously got a really strong top order and we wanted to enhance the middle order by adding a little bit of power”, he added.
“With a couple of hours off the retention and release deadline, we were made aware of Cameron’s potential availability for trade, which we had to take seriously. So, having spoken to the guys at MI, we got a small group of us together at our end. We thought we better discuss this and debate the pros and cons of trying to make this trade work, which is what we did for a little bit of time,” Mo said.
“Essentially, we were trying to weigh up whether we take the risk of someone else picking up Cameron Green now, which could have happened before the deadline…hoping he makes it to the auction as a released player, but somebody else could’ve picked him up, which was obviously the case. Even then if you get to the auction, there’s no guarantee that you will get him at the auction because you can easily be outbid,” he added.
Royal Challengers Bangalore retained players: Faf du Plessis (C), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar
Royal Challengers Bangalore released players:Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Josh Hazlewood, Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, David Willey, Wayne Parnell, Sonu Yadav, Avinash Singh, Siddharth Kaul, Kedar Jadhav
Andy Flower has had a magnificent record as he holds the position of head coach across multiple team franchises in numerous cricket leagues. Recently, Andy Flower was involved as the head coach of the IPL team franchise, Lucknow Super Giants and the team played extremely well in the previous edition of the Indian Premier League as they finished 4th on the points table after reaching the play-offs.
Here is Andy Flower’s career glance in short-format cricket leagues that are played across the world.
CPL 2020 – Finalist.
PSL 2021 – Winner.
CPL 2021 – Finalist.
PSL 2022 – Finalist.
The Hundred 2022 – Winner.
ILT20 2023 – Winner.
PSL 2023 – Finalist.
IPL 2023 – Playoffs.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 to be scheduled from 4 June to 30 in the USA and West Indies
To welcome Andy Flower to their management squad, the Royal Challengers Bangalore team franchise tweeted, “The official Twitter handle of RCB tweeted, “We are beyond thrilled to welcome 𝗜𝗖𝗖 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿 and 𝟮𝟬-𝟮𝟬 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗽 winning coach 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 as the 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 of RCB Men’s team. Andy’s experience of coaching IPL & T20 teams around the world, and leading his teams to titles at the PSL, ILT20, The Hundred, and Abu Dhabi T10 will help in developing a championship-winning mindset and take RCB’s #PlayBold philosophy forward. #ನಮ್ಮRCB.”
“We have an exciting roster of players to work with, and I recognise and will relish both the amazing opportunity with RCB but also the responsibility that comes with the role. It is a great challenge, and I can’t wait to get started,” said Any Flower ahead of his appointment as the head coach of the IPL team franchise, Royal Challengers Bangalore.
“I recognise the work put in by Mike Hesson and Sanjay Bangar, who are two coaches I respect. I’m particularly excited to be reunited with Faf. We have worked very well together in the past I look forward to forging our partnership and relationship into something bigger and better,” added Andy Flower.
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