AB de Villiers gives his take on RCB’s Class of 2023

Last Friday witnessed the latest edition of the IPL auction at Kochi where RCB made a handful of decent buys in Will Jacks and Reece Topley followed by a string of impressive Indian players who are just starting to proliferate in the domestic circuit.

RCB Hall of Famer, AB de Villiers assessed the strength of the Royal Challengers after the mini-auction and passed an encouraging verdict that would instill hopes among the RCB fans. Talking on Jio Cinema, the RCB icon discussed in detail about the team strength and what would make them a better unit for the upcoming season.

Talking about the overall balance of the team, ABD said, “Yeah I like the look of this team that had a good season last year, they came close. There's good balance, good backup, I just need a couple of guys in form. It's the same old story I think when it comes to that, we need couple of guys in the top order to fire.”

The former South African batter then shifted his focus to the specifics, stating, “There's a lot of class in that line-up. I feel the bowling attack, Josh Hazlewood has been the best find. I think he is a quality class player, very experienced. That's exactly what we needed in the last few years.”

AB also talked about RCB’s batting line-up that features a nice mix of talented and experienced Indian batters alongside the hard-hitting overseas pros of the sport in Glenn Maxwell and skipper Faf du Plessis, stating, “It's just a matter of getting Maxi in form and then somebody like a Rajat Patidar to make sure he continues with that kind of form and a few guys chipping around him.”

He eventually shifted his focus to the big man, the heart of RCB ever since his inception, Virat Kohli. Talking about his former teammate, AB said, “Virat we know, batted well in the World Cup and if he is in form, we are gonna go a long way. So, I'm looking forward to seeing these boys perform. They've got a lot of confidence from last year and now it's just a matter of building on that and taking it all the way.”

Rating RCB’s auction and the team post that, ABD allotted them a wholesome 9 out of 10 points, believing that the team has a boatload of potential and will continue to be a force to reckon with.