Former South African legend AB de Villiers and star West Indies all-rounder Chris Gayle were inducted into the Bangalore Hall of Fame on Sunday. At the Unbox event on the 26th of March ahead of the Indian T20 League 2023, Bangalore decided to retire De Villiers’ and Gayle’s jersey numbers to honour their services to the team.
De Villiers was visibly emotional after the event and has now posted a heartfelt Instagram Post for the Bangalore team fans. Notably, this is the first time, not as a player, that ABD walked in front of the home crowd. He penned that it felt weird walking in the den in a “different state of mind”.
“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,” he wrote.
Tears filled my eyes when I stepped on to the balcony: AB de Villiers
The South African great said that it was a lot different to walk in the middle after his retirement. He said that he felt grateful to have represented the team this time rather than trying to win the game for the fans.
“Tears filled my eyes when I stepped on to 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,” he added.
“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,” he concluded.
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