"Tears filled my eyes when I stepped onto the balcony" - AB de Villiers pens an emotional note after getting inducted into the RCB hall of fame
AB de Villiers dedicated a heartfelt note to Bangalore fans and his former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammates after being inducted into the franchise's Hall of Fame on Sunday, March 26.
In the presence of thousands of ardent fans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, RCB inducted legendary AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle into the Hall of Fame and also retired their jerseys to honor their contributions to the team.
Across 156 matches for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, AB de Villiers has scored 5162 runs at an average of 41.20 and a strike rate of 158.64, including 37 half-centuries and two centuries.
De Villiers' long-standing association with the RCB side came to an end in 2021 when he retired from all formats of cricket. He recently reunited with his former teammates this Sunday at the RCB Unbox event.
The iconic batter took to his official Instagram handle to express gratitude for all the love and support extended towards him by fans and his teammates over the years in the IPL. AB de Villiers wrote:
"I don’t know where to start really... So March 26th 2023 Chris and I were inducted into the RCB hall of fame and our jersey numbers retired forever."
"My heart blossomed as my wife, two boys and little girl walked up the stairs to enter our RCB den, stairs that I have walked up so many times with butterflies fluttering in my stomach. It felt weird to walk up there in a different state of mind.
Describing his emotions on experiencing the energy of the fans at Chinnaswamy Stadium, De Villiers continued:
"Tears filled my eyes when I stepped onto the balcony of our dressing room at the Chinnaswamy in front of a packed stadium. I never thought hearing the chants of ABD could beat the first time, but this time was different."
"It used to be adrenalin combined with an extreme hunger to please the cry out of our fans to find a way to win, this time it was a sea of emotion that filled my body as I simply felt grateful to have had my time in the arena representing a proud city, an amazing franchise and incredible teammates."
"Thank you RCB, thank you Bengaluru" - AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers also reminisced about the special memories associated with his time with RCB and finished by thanking everyone for their immense love, while singling out his friend and former teammate Virat Kohli. He concluded:
"So many special memories rushed back as I thought of all my days spent in India since 2003, I have a deep connection with this country and its people❤️I’ll forever be grateful! Thank you, teammates, especially Virat, thank you RCB, thank you Bengaluru❤️."