Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have been in sublime form in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season, and they are just one win away from sealing their place in the playoffs as well. RCB, who are chasing their first-ever IPL title, have qualified for the playoffs after the match was washed out against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). And, former South Africa batter and RCB legend, AB de Villiers, said that he will come to India if RCB can make it to the final.

While the IPL final will occur on June 3, the playoffs will start on May 29. Qualifier 1 and Eliminator will be played on May 29 and 30 as well, and Qualifier 2 will go ahead on June 1. The venues for the playoffs are yet to be decided. Meanwhile, AB de Villiers played for RCB in the IPL for 11 years from 2011 to 2021. He had many memorable partnerships with Virat Kohli as well.

“Mark my words, if RCB makes it to the final, I will be there at the stadium with the boys. Nothing will give me more pleasure than to lift that trophy with Virat Kohli. I’ve tried that for many many years,” said de Villiers during an Instagram Live session.

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However, Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Tests recently. He had scored 9230 runs in 123 Tests, which came at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries and 31 fifties as well. In his tribute to Kohli, de Villiers revealed that he initially did not like Kohli and that it took him some time to get friendly with him as well.

“Virat is like one of my cricketing brothers, someone I really grew fond of when I got to know him better. He’s an absolute pain to play against, so before I knew him I didn’t really like him a lot because he was so good and so competitive, very similar to me with that competitive nature,” said de Villiers in a video shared by ICC.

“Then I got to know him at RCB, I got to know him a lot better. We became family friends, became brothers and also became great partners at the wicket when we played together, really understood each other out there and I probably enjoyed every second of playing with him,” he concluded.