Former South African batsman AB de Villiers has backed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to win back-to-back Indian Premier League titles. Last year, RCB ended an 18-year wait by defeating Punjab Kings by six runs in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
De Villiers, who played 11 seasons for RCB between 2011 and 2021, said the team is no longer heavily dependent on Virat Kohli. He added that Kohli can have his own space as RCB now have several players capable of performing consistently.
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“Virat feels it, he feels he is no longer the only one carrying the load,” de Villiers told JioHotstar.
“He’s got a team of fighters around him who are all trying to win a trophy. I think they’re in a really good place. It’s a similar team, they haven’t had to change much and they have good reason to believe they can go full force again next season,” he added.
RCB strengthened their squad in the IPL auction by signing Venkatesh Iyer for Rs 7 crore and Mangesh Yadav for Rs 5.2 crore. They also added Jordan Cox for Rs 75 crore, Jacob Duffy for Rs 2 crore and young talents Satvik Deswal, Vicky Ostwal, Vihaan Malhotra and Kanishk Chouhan for Rs 30 crore.
‘NOT TWO, EVEN THREE’
Appreciating Kohli’s mindset, De Villiers said that RCB now has the power to win multiple trophies in a row, reflecting Kohli’s belief of turning one win into multiple consecutive wins.
“You remember how (Kohli) often talked about it in the dressing room: ‘If we can win one, we’ll win two, three, four quickly.’ I really believe that. I feel RCB are now in that zone where they can bang, bang, bang… maybe two or three trophies in a row,” De Villiers added.
Last month, the RCB Women’s team won their second Women’s Premier League (WPL) title by beating Delhi Capitals in the final. The men’s team now have a chance to do the double by defending their IPL crown this year.
RCB will begin their title defense on Saturday, March 28against Ishan Kishan’s Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
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Issued by:
sabyasachi chowdhury
Published on:
18 March 2026 23:30 IST
