"Imagine both Virat and myself there" - AB de Villiers' massive statement on Delhi Capitals' blunder amid WCL 2025

AB de Villiers opened up on a huge blunder by the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) amid the World Championship of Legends (WCL) 2025. In a recent podcast appearance, the former batter was asked about some calls by the Delhi franchise in the past.

Before the inaugural IPL edition in 2008, Delhi had the option of picking Virat Kohli. However, they chose to strengthen their bowling and opted for Pradeep Snagwan instead. Notably, AB de Villiers began his journey in the league with Delhi. He played three seasons for them from 2008 to 2010 before being released.

When asked about which was the bigger mistake by Delhi between not picking Virat and letting go of him, De Villiers reckoned both decisions were mistakes. However, he added that he was happy to move to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who picked him in 2011.

"Both. Imagine both Virat and myself there. But I was very happy to move to RCB, what a great city, what a great fan base. I think I'll have an involvement in the future. I can't say when. I would love to say I'm going to coach them one day. But I don't know what my appetite is yet and what kind of role they want me to fill. I would like to keep the relationship as healthy as possible for the rest of my life," he said. (16:49)

AB De Villiers represented RCB till the 2021 season. He played 157 matches for the franchise and scored 4522 runs at an average of 41.10 with a strike-rate of 158.33 and two hundreds.

Notably, De Villiers scored three IPL hundreds, with his first coming for the Daredevils in 2009.

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AB De Villiers regrets not winning an IPL title with RCB

RCB made it to the IPL final in 2016. They were close to winning the game but fell short in the end. Despite having played several seasons for the franchise, AB de Villiers failed to win the IPL with them and regrets it as well.

"Forever I'll regret that. The 2016 final hurts quite a lot because we were so close and I felt we were the better team in that final and should have gone through. But again, that's sport for you. Up and down, unpredictable, and that's why fans love the game so much," he said. (15:56)

RCB faced SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at home in Bengaluru during the 2016 final. SRH batted first and posted 208/7 on the board. Virat Kohli (54) and Chris Gayle (76) added 114 runs for the first wicket in just 10.3 overs. It appeared as though RCB would easily hunt down the target.

However, once both Kohli and Gayle were dismissed, they collapsed and ended on 200/7. They fell nine runs short of the title. With 687 runs from 16 matches, AB de Villiers was the third-highest run-getter that season.