AB de Villiers sets his sights on Champions Trophy triumph after RCB disappointment
AB de Villiers put to rest rumours about him retiring from international cricket; he intends to lead SA to Champions Trophy triumph.
Mumbai: While the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League has not panned out well for his side Royal Challengers Bangalore, AB de Villers has a reason to smile as he is to become father for the second time.
“I love my child. It has obviously been a huge change for my life. There’s another one on the way, so a lot of things are changing in my family,” said the South African maverick on the sidelines of a Mont Blanc event in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The 33-year-old Proteas ODI skipper also put to rest rumours about him drawing curtains on his international career anytime soon, before revealing he intends to lead his country to Champions Trophy triumph.
“I’m still dedicated to what I do, that is to play cricket. It is my first love. People can call it business, but not really, because you love what you do,” he said. “I’ve got a big passion for cricket, so I’ll play it for as long as I can.
“The next thing after IPL is the Champions Trophy. That’s something that us South Africans would love to win, and I know you guys (Indian fans) will have something to say about that,” said de Villiers. “There’s quite a bit of cricket in the next few years, and I’d like to think that I’ll play for quite a few more years.”
‘RCB want finish the season with dignity’
De Villiers, who fought his way through injuries before playing in the IPL, said that RCB let themselves down. The Virat Kohli-led side, which were the runners-up in IPL 2016, have very little hopes of even making it to playoffs having won only two of their 11 games in IPL 2017.
“I think we let ourselves down in the last few games, not competing as close as we want to. But last night (Monday), it was a really really close cricket match,” said AB, whose 27-ball 43-run knock was not enough as RCB suffered five-wicket defeat against Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians.
“Those last two balls, I was quite nervous, hoping that we could somehow find a way to put it through. It wasn’t meant to be, but we have a few more games left, and will hopefully finish the season with dignity,” ABD concluded.