AB de Villiers believes Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) has the right team to win the IPL title for the second straight year. RCB ended their 18-year wait by lifting the IPL title last year by defeating Punjab Kings by six runs.
The former South Africa captain, who played for RCB from 2011 to 2021, said the team is no more dependent on Kohli’s batting. He added that there are other players in the team who can really step up when needed.
“Virat can feel that, he can sense that he is not the only one carrying the load anymore,” de Villiers told JioHotstar.
“He has a squad of fighters around him, all gunning to win the trophy. I think they are in a really good place. It’s a similar squad, they didn’t have to change much, and they have good reason to believe they can go all the way again this coming season,” he added.
De Villiers is right, RCB didn’t had to alter much and during the auction, they signed Venkatesh Iyer for Rs 7 crore and Mangesh Yadav for Rs 5.2 crore. They also bought Jordan Cox for 75 lakh, Jacob Duffy for Rs 2 crore, and young talents Satvik Deswal, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra and Kanishk Chouhan for Rs 30 lakh each.
De Villiers wants RCB to back Kohli’s belief of keeping up with the winning momentum and put their best foot forward by defending the title.
“You will remember him (Kohli) speaking about it often in the dressing room, ‘If we can win one, we are going to win two, three, four quickly.’ I truly believe that. I feel RCB are in that zone now where they can go bang, bang, bang… perhaps two or three trophies in a row,” De Villiers added.
Last month, RCB’s women’s side clinched their second Women’s Premier League title, beating Delhi Capitals in the final. Now, the men’s team has a shot at completing a rare double as they gear up to defend their IPL title this season.
RCB take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on March 28.
