Virat Kohli landed in Chennai on the 1st of April for the upcoming season of the IPL. He is very excited that the tournament is being played in India again, even though it is in a different setting. Meanwhile, AB de Villiers has also arrived in Chennai and will undergo quarantine for seven days.
It was only about five months ago that the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) ended, and we are back with the 14th season. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), who started the 2020 season well and won seven out of their first ten games, couldn’t get the finish they were looking for. The three-time IPL finalists lost each of their last four league matches to finish fourth on the points table before losing the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
However, that was an improved show from the previous three seasons where they had finished with the wooden spoon twice (2017 and 2019). They will be hoping for some consistency in the 2021 season, and the Virat Kohli-led side will be looking to end the trophy drought.
RCB’s base is in Chennai, as they will be playing their first three games at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. After completing the series against England, Virat Kohli went back home for a few days before flying down to Chennai.
The RCB skipper landed in Chennai on the 1st of April, and he will now undergo quarantine for seven days before joining the rest of the squad. In a video posted by the Royal Challengers Bangalore on their various social media platforms, Kohli admitted that he was excited that the Indian T20 extravaganza is back in India. He has a good feeling about RCB’s chances this time around.
It feels surreal. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like we went away for too long as there was a lot of cricket in between as well but yeah, very excited that we are playing in India again. Although in a different way, in a different setting. I am very optimistic, and yes, I have a good feeling this time around,
Kohli was quoted saying in the video posted after he landed in Chennai.
AB de Villiers has also arrived in Chennai. His flight landed in the early hours of the 1st of April, and RCB had even posted his flight schedule, which was from Johannesburg to Chennai via Dubai. And it was a pretty long flight, which de Villiers admitted, but he was happy to be back for his 11th season with RCB.
It was a long journey. Very happy to be back with RCB, it feels like yesterday that we finished the IPL. I feel we have the momentum from the last tournament, and we’ll have a lot of fun,
de Villiers was quoted saying in a separate video that RCB posted on their social media platforms.
RCB have added some big names to their ranks for the upcoming season. Glenn Maxwell, Dan Christian and Kyle Jamieson are some of the top international stars who were picked in the IPL auction for the 2021 season. De Villiers was excited about their inclusion and hoped that they could win many games together for RCB this year.
There are some new names but also old names, the people I have known for ages. Dan (Christian) has been with RCB before, it’s Maxi’s (Maxwell) first time, but we all have seen him so often in the IPL, hopefully, a lot of games for us to win together,
de Villiers added.
RCB kickstart their 2021 campaign against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener on the 9th of April in Chennai.
