IPL 2023: AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle to be inducted into RCB Hall of Fame
In a first, IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore will be honouring former players Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers for their contributions to the franchise whilst playing in the Indian Premier League.
The team will permanently retire the jersey numbers of the batting legends and induct them into the RCB Hall of Fame as a token of gratitude for their services.
The franchise took to Twitter to announce the move and wrote:
“We promised you during last year’s IPL that we’ll get @ABdeVilliers17 and @henrygayle together at the Chinnaswamy stadium. And yes, they’re going to be present at the #RCBUnbox event on the 26th of March 2023 for the RCB Hall of Fame induction.”
We promised you during last year’s IPL that we’ll get @ABdeVilliers17 and @henrygayle together at the Chinnaswamy stadium. And yes, they’re going to be present at the #RCBUnbox event on the 26th of March 2023 for the RCB Hall of Fame induction. Tickets link in bio!#PlayBold pic.twitter.com/9wBeieNJtI
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 17, 2023
As per the announcement, an event named RCB Unbox will take place on March 26th at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. It will be a curtain-raiser for their upcoming season. First, the team’s full-squad practice will be conducted, followed RCB Hall of Fame induction ceremony and later, celebrities like Sonu Nigam and Jason Derulo will perform at the event.
During the announcement, former RCB captain Virat Kohli expressed delight at playing alongside the legendary cricketers and said, “AB has truly changed the game of cricket with his innovation, brilliance and sportsmanship. I have played for 7 years with Chris and this is going to be the most special journey for me.”
Meanwhile, Gayle played 84 games for the team with a staggering 3,163 runs at an average of just under 44 and a strike rate of 152.7, smashing 249 fours and 239 sixes while De Villiers featured in 144 games for RCB with close to 5,000 runs and a strike rate of 158.6.
