RCB's bowling department has nice depth: AB de Villiers

JOHANNESBURG: Legendary South African batter AB de Villiers said on Wednesday that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) bowling this time around has a very nice depth and will help them "go all the way" during the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), starting from March 22.

The 17th season of the Indian Premier League will start on Friday with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) set to clash with RCB in a South Indian derby at their home arena--MA Chidambaram Stadium.

"The bowling department, led by Mohammed Siraj, plays a huge role. I think there's very nice depth this time around, and I think that is one of the big reasons I feel RCB is going to go all the way this year," De Villiers said on his Youtube channel. RCB's pace attack includes all-rounder Cameron Green of Australia, Lockie Ferguson of New Zealand, Alzarri Joseph of West Indies, and Reece Topley of England alongside Indian bowlers Yash Dayal and Vijaykumar Vyshak. Mayank Dagar, Karn Sharma, Swapnil Singh and Himanshu Sharma form the spin attack. Overseas batters Glenn Maxwell and Will Jacks can also deliver valuable overs of spin

De Villiers also backed his close friend and star batter Virat Kohli to be at his best this season. "Stalwart, King Kohli, over 7000 runs, over 200 IPL matches--that is simply incredible. That is like a career in itself. Virat will be back. We have missed him dearly, and absolutely cannot wait to watch the best of him this coming season," said De Villiers.

Virat is the highest run-getter in IPL of all time. In 237 matches and 229 innings, he has scored 7263 runs at an average of 37.24, with a strike rate of 130.02. His best score is 113. He has scored seven centuries, most by a batter and 50 fifties in his IPL career. Last season, Virat was the fourth-highest run-getter, piling up 639 runs at an average of 53.25 and at a strike rate of 139.82.

His best score was 101*. The 35-year-old scored two centuries and six fifties but could not take his side to the playoffs. This season of IPL will be crucial for Virat as the women's RCB team has lifted their maiden Women's Premier League (WPL) after beating Delhi Capitals in the final on Sunday at Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Virat, once the RCB skipper, will be looking to end the men's team's 16-year title drought. Also, a great IPL campaign will help him solidify his spot in India's ICC T20 World Cup 2024 squad. The former South African batter also backed skipper Faf Du Plessis, saying that though the veteran had a dip in form, he was among the runs again during the backend of the SA20 season 2 this year with Joburg Super Kings. "He has had a little bit of a dip in form of late, but towards the back end of the SA20, he started finding his feet again, which boasts well for RCB this season," De Villiers said on Du Plessis.

In the SA20 season two, Du Plessis scored 239 runs in 11 matches at an average of 29.87 and a strike rate of over 141, with three half-centuries. The 39-year-old struggled for runs in the first half of the tournament. Du Plessis in IPL is a different beast. In 14 matches last season, he scored 730 runs at an average of 56.15, with eight half-centuries. His strike rate was 153.68 and he was the second-highest run-getter of the tournament.