Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers is currently plying his trade in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). He has been a popular figure in the IPL and has been playing since the inception of the tournament.
RCB – led by De Villiers’ close friend and Indian skipper Virat Kohli – is the first team to get ruled out of the ongoing IPL after their previous clash against Rajasthan Royals was abandoned due to rain at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Although his team had a dismal run in the cash-rich league, ABD had a good time with the bat. He has so far scored 441 runs from 12 matches at an average of 49 including five half-centuries.
IPL or World Cup?
In the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, South Africa will miss the service of AB de Villiers. The swashbuckling batsman shocked the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from international cricket in May last year.
De Villiers, who represented the Proteas in 228 ODIs, 78 T20Is and 114 Tests, recently revealed that IPL is the best tournament in the world. He also opined that IPL is even better than the ICC World Cup.
The 35-year-old has mentioned that the level of competition in the IPL is very high and it has improved over the years.
“Nothing comes close to the IPL, to be honest. I know I am sitting in India and busy playing in the IPL, so it’s easy to say. But I have played in quite a few (tournaments) now across the world. I think it’s better than the World Cup. It’s the most incredible tournament to be part of. It wasn’t always the case. The first five years were nowhere close to where we are now. It’s so intense, so fast, and the following is just incredible,” De Villiers was quoted as saying in Livemint.
The forthcoming edition of the ICC Cricket World Cup will be played in England and Wales from May 30 to June 14. Host England will play the tournament-opener against South Africa at the Oval Cricket Ground.
