South African legend AB de Villiers has opened up about his tumultuous time with the now-defunct Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals), calling his early IPL years a bittersweet chapter clouded by internal chaos. Despite boasting an array of cricketing legends, Delhi never made it past the semi-finals during de Villiers’ stint from 2008 to 2010.“There were a lot of poisonous characters in that team,” de Villiers revealed in an interview with Cricket.com. “I’d hate to give you names – burning people, you know – but the Delhi Daredevils were in shambles.”Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!De Villiers made the playoffs with Delhi in 2008 and 2009 and was one of the team’s standout performers, scoring 465 runs in the 2009 season held in South Africa. However, his role diminished in 2010, and to his surprise, he found himself in the auction pool ahead of 2011.
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What do you think was the main issue with the Delhi Daredevils during AB de Villiers’ tenure?
“I thought I was going to be the man,” he recalled. “Then, all of a sudden, I wasn’t playing again… I was told I would be retained, and then the next minute, I saw myself in the auction. I didn’t even know what had happened. So many weird things went on.”
Despite the bitter fallout, de Villiers fondly remembers sharing the dressing room with icons like Glenn McGrath and Daniel Vettori. “Some of the highlights of my life and career came during that stint,” he said.De Villiers went on to become one of the most beloved and successful players in IPL history with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, amassing over 5000 runs. “The day I walked into RCB, I felt like they wanted me,” he said. “You’re going to become a great player with us – you’re part of the family.”
