I was released by Delhi Daredevils in 2010 after being told I would be retained: AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers is one of the most revered cricketers of all time. He retired from all forms of cricket in 2021 after entertaining cricket fanatics for 18 years. De Villiers became a household name in India too, thanks to some of his awe-inspiring knocks in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). However, his IPL career did not start at RCB, as he made his debut with the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) back in 2008.

After spending three seasons for the Delhi-based franchise, the South Africa stalwart shifted base to RCB and formed an iconic duo alongside Virat Kohli. However, the fact that Delhi released a player of de Villiers' calibre raised many eyebrows. Thriteen years later, the Pretoria-born has revealed what had happened prior to his departure from Delhi.

De Villiers revealed that he was called to the office by Delhi officials and told that he would be retained for the 2011 edition of the IPL. However, the right-handed batter was released before the auction, and that took him by surprise.

“When I played in the 2010 season, I got called into the office and was told ‘you are going to get retained, young AB de Villiers’. I sat alongside David Warner in that meeting. It came as a huge surprise to me a week or two later when I realised I had been released. So the communication wasn’t great back in the day, that must be different these days but it’s not a nice feeling," de Villiers said on his YouTube channel.

“You’re unsure of your career, at that time in 2010 I think I only played five games in that IPL season so a lot of doubts crept up in my mind. But I did have a very good international season. I kept playing good cricket and luckily for me the auction happened and I got picked up by RCB. That changed my life forever, so great memories with regards to that," the 39-year-old added.

De Villiers was picked up by Bangalore in the 2011 auction for INR 5 crore and he went on to feature in 11 seasons for them and played some of the most memorable knocks in the history of the league.