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South Africa's legendary batter AB de Villiers found his second home at the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Before forming formidable partnerships with the likes of Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli, he was part of Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). He played three seasons for the Delhi franchise before getting picked by RCB. A decade and a half after leaving the franchise, De Villiers said that there were some 'poisonous characters' in the Delhi side.
“I would hate to give you names. Burning people, you know. But Delhi Daredevils were in shambles. I mean, it was. There were lots of poisonous characters on that side,” the former South Africa captain told cricket.com.
He recalls his time at Delhi franchise as bittersweet as he got to share the dressing room with legendary players Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori.
“Lots of legends. So it's such a bittersweet moment for me because I speak… I remember it fondly. And some of the highlights of my life and career were there, spending time with Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori. That's where we got close. But these guys were my heroes, and I was so scared of them growing up.
“Like McGrath. I mean, I played against him in 2006 in a Test match and I could hardly breathe, literally, and never spoke a word to him. And then in the next minute, I'm sitting here in 2008 and he sits next to me and goes, I like the way you play. I'm like, what's going on there?
“So from those highs to also realising that there were some cancerous characters inside and no need to mention names, So, it was a very bittersweet three years for me. Also, I wasn't backed as I would have liked to."
De Villiers shines in IPL on South Africa soil
De Villiers made his IPL debut in the inaugural edition where he got six changes and scored just 95 runs. The second edition of IPL was played in South Africa where De Villiers had a terrific season. From 13 innings, he scored 465 runs at an average of 51.66, including one century and three half-centuries. He was the third-highest run-scorer of the season. Delhi lost to now-defunct Deccan Chargers in the semifinal.
When De Villiers wasn't retained by Delhi
De Villiers recalled getting benched after his best season. In the 2010 edition, he scored 111 runs from seven innings. He was eventually released by the franchise and roped in by RCB where he became an IPL legend.
“I enjoyed Shippy (Greg Shipperd) as the coach from New South Wales, who coached there, and he backed me a little bit, but also I didn't perform as well as I wanted to, but I never felt like I was going to get more than three games, for instance. And for a youngster, it's a tough situation to be in.
“2009 was nice. I played almost the entire season there in South Africa, came back, I thought I was going to be the man. All of a sudden, not playing again. So it was really mixed feelings. Told I was going to be retained, and in the next minute, I see I'm in the auction. I didn't know what even happened. So weird things happened.”
De Villiers' IPL record
De Villiers still holds the record for most runs by a South Africa batter in the IPL. From 170 innings, he has 5,162 runs at an average of 39.70, including three centuries and 40 half-centuries. His IPL career strike rate is 151.68.
Delhi Daredevils 2008 squad -
Virender Sehwag (c), AB de Villiers, Shikhar Dhawan, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary, Tejashwi Yadav, Rajat Bhatia, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof, Yo Mahesh, Mithun Manhas, Yogesh Nagar, Shoaib Malik, Mayank Tehlan, Daniel Vettori, Brett Geeves, Glenn McGrath, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Asif, Pradeep Sangwan.
Delhi Daredevils 2009 squad -
Virender Sehwag (c), AB de Villiers, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik, Owais Shah, David Warner, Tejashwi Yadav, Manoj Tiwary, Rajat Bhatia, Paul Collingwood, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof, Yo Mahesh, Mithun Manhas, Andrew McDonald, Yogesh Nagar, Daniel Vettori, Glenn Mcgrath, Amit Mishra, Dirk Nannes, Ashish Nehra, Aavishkar Salvi, Pradeep Sangwan, Umesh Yadav
Delhi Daredevils 2010 squad -
Gautam Gambhir (c), AB de Villiers, Dinesh Karthik, Virender Sehwag, David Warner, Rajat Bhatia, Paul Collingwood, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Moises Henriques, Kedar Jadhav, Farveez Maharoof, Yo Mahesh, Mithun Manhas, Andrew McDonald, Sarabjit Ladda, Amit Mishra, Dirk Nannes, Ashish Nehra, Wayne Parnell, Avishkar Salvi, Pradeep Sangwan, Umesh Yadav, Joginder Singh, Shashi Ranjan, Sarandeep Singh
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