AB de Villiers rubs salt on RCB's old wounds for releasing Rahul and Chahal in past: ‘If only we had kept KL…’
AB de Villiers feels that RCB should go after Kagiso Rabada, who recently became ICC number 1 ranked Test bowler.
Proteas great AB de Villiers gave his honest opinion on potential signings of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the upcoming IPL 2025 auction. RCB have bold choices in IPL retention and released their big overseas stars, including Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell and Will Jacks. However, they have shown trust in Indian youngsters Rajat Patidar and Yash Dayal alongside their key star Virat Kohli, who they retained for a whopping INR 21 crore.
Despite having one of the biggest fanbases and some of the biggest T20I stars associated with the team in the past, RCB has not won an IPL trophy since the tournament's inception.
They have also made some retention blunders in the past by releasing the likes of KL Rahul and Yuzvendra Chahal, who performed well for them during their stay at the franchise.
De Villiers, who is an RCB Hall of Famer, also made the same point about releasing Rahul and Chahal in the past years.
During a recent YouTube live session, a fan asked De Villiers about RCB's chances of signing Rahul, Chahal and Kagiso Rabada in the coming auction.
To which, the RCB legend replied, “Yuzi, KL Rahul to return? If only we had kept KL Rahul we never would've had to buy him back in the auction and same for Yuzvendra Chahal.”
Rahul has parted ways with Lucknow Super Giants as the two parties were not on the same page and wanted different things for the upcoming season. While Chahal was also released by Rajasthan Royals despite being one of their best bowlers in the last cycle.
‘Kagiso Rabada will go for a discount and I hope RCB pick him up’: ABD
However, De Villiers feels that RCB should go after Kagiso Rabada, who recently became ICC number 1 ranked Test bowler. The Proteas legend has claimed that there are chances that RCB can get Rabada for a discounted price also.
"Kagiso Rabada would be nice at RCB; that would be very, very cool. He is a guy that might go for a decent price like a discount. Because last season maybe wasn't his best but he is the number 1 Test bowler in the world right now. I think he is gonna have the best IPL of his life coming up in 2025. But all the teams know that, I don't think so, I think he will go for a discount and I hope RCB pick him up, it will be fantastic," De Villiers added.