'Mr.360' AB de Villiers pumped up for IPL 2021, says 'I am as young as ever'

It seems like Abraham Benjamin de Villiers might be in the perfect frame of mind ahead of IPL 2021 that gets underway on Friday. AB de Villiers will be looking to make a statement when three-time finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore lock horns with the defending champions as well as five-time winners Mumbai Indians in the season-opener at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium.. 

As ABD looks to make an impact in the curtain-raiser, he has said that he is feeling as young as ever.

'I am as young as ever': AB de Villiers

“I had a nice few training sessions, a lot of fitness, a lot of gym work. I feel ready and I am as young as ever so looking forward to it. We have spent a lot of time in the room in the last week and before that, we were traveling. It was quite intense coming out. I hit the floor running and gave it my absolute best,” he said. “Had a lot of fun out here tonight and I was hitting the ball okay. Not a 100% so I will come back tomorrow for a bit more", said de Villiers while speaking on RCB’s Bold Diaries.

“It is very enjoyable to just be here. I am very excited to play another IPL with the RCB boys and just going to have a lot of fun this year,” the Proteas batting icon added.

The former South African skipper had a dream run last season where he amassed 454 runs from 15 matches at an average of 45.40 and a strike rate of 158.74 including five half-centuries.

RCB in IPL 2021

The dark horses will be hoping to make IPL 2021 a memorable one by finally laying their hands on the elusive silverware that has eluded them since the inaugural edition of the tournament in 2008. RCB had made it to the finals thrice (2009,2011, & 2016) editions respectively only to finish as the second-best side on all three occasions. 

The Virat Kohli-led side had put up a good show in 2020 as a result of which they made it to the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 edition by finishing fourth in the league stages. 

AB de Villiers scored a valiant half-century (56) in the Eliminator against southern rivals as well as former champions Hyderabad. He hardly received any support from the other end as Bangalore were restricted to 131/7 in their 20 overs. 

In the end, it was just not enough as the Orange Army got past the finish line in the final over by six wickets as the three-time finalists were knocked out of the competition.

(Image Courtesy: IPLT20.COM)