The Royal Challengers Bangalore came up with the third edition of RCB Unbox at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on 17th March, 2025. This event has become a tradition for the Bangalore franchise since the past three years, as this event offers them a chance to unveil their new jersey for the upcoming season and also introduce the entire squad to their fanbase. Amongst all of these happenings during the RCB Unbox, there was one moment which probably sent waves of goosebumps and nostalgia across the entire stadium. And this was when the entire stadium erupted with the chants of ‘ABD, ABD’ referring to a former fan favorite; South African batter AB De Villiers.
While the fans were celebrating the arrival of the new squad members and hoping for good results in the upcoming IPL seasons, a feeling of nostalgia swept all the fans at the Chinnaswamy at the mention of AB De Villiers. The former Proteas batter has scored 5162 runs in his IPL career, having spent the majority of his time with RCB; 11 seasons to be precise.
A look at AB de Villiers glorious IPL career
Known as Mr. 360, AB De Villiers was one of the most loved figures at the Chinnaswamy, who made his debut in the IPL with the Delhi Daredevils but later changed alliances to the Bangalore franchise and stayed there till the time he retired. Known for his explosive batting, De Villiers haunted a lot of bowling attacks in the IPL, playing alongside other terrorizing figures like Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli. He was the top scorer for the Bangalore franchise on two occasions in 2014 and 2015.
However his best season arguably was the 2016 season where he scored his highest run tally of 687 but got overshadowed by the brilliance of skipper Virat Kohli, who scored 973 runs. It was during this season that he created a historic partnership of 229 runs with Kohli, which was the highest ever partnership in the IPL at that time.
