AB de Villiers to visit Chinnaswamy Stadium next year

Ab de Villiers in action for RCB (PC: Twitter)

The former South Africa batter Ab de Villiers has reiterated his stance of not returning to competitive cricket, which has now put all speculations to rest. However, he provided a major update for Royal Challengers Bangalore fans on Monday (October 3). 

De Villiers, who last featured for Proteas in 2018 continued to feature for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League until 2021. He announced his retirement in November last year from all forms of cricket. 

The cricket fraternity was still hopeful of the swashbuckling batter returning to IPL 2023 due to his attachment to RCB. However, the 38-year-old ruled out his comeback on Twitter LIVE, which certainly left the fans disappointed. 

De Villiers also shared that he underwent the surgery due to retinal eye detachment, which further slimmed any hope for his return. 

Nevertheless, the swashbuckling batter has revealed that he will be coming to Chinnaswamy Stadium during the IPL 2023 to express his gratitude to the fans for their support over the years. 

"I will return to Chinnaswamy next year, not for playing but to thank all the fans for the support over a decade," De Villiers said.

De Villiers is ranked sixth in terms of batting charts in the IPL history, with 5162 runs in 184 matches at an average of 39.70, with three centuries. 

Often known as Mr.360, De Villiers was certainly the most popular overseas cricketer in India due to his innate ability to send the balls all over the park. 

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