I look like an idiot when trying to make conversation, it's a fanboy moment: KL Rahul on AB de Villiers
'It is a fanboy moment with him' - KL Rahul on AB de Villiers. Photo (IPL/BCCI)
AB de Villiers remains a big name in world cricket. After his abrupt international retirement, which he announced during IPL 2018 season, the former South African captain remained active in various T20 leagues and talks were on with the Cricket South Africa (CSA) board for him to make aninternational comeback for last year's T20 World Cup. However, the discussions didn't materialise into ABD's possible comeback atthe international level.
De Villiers played the IPL 2021 edition, once again representing the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise. Soon after IPL 14's end, the legendary cricketer called it quits from all forms of the game. De Villiers signed off with 8,765 Test, 9,577 ODI and 5,162 IPL runs, respectively. Thus, he has left many awestruck with his versatality as a batter and continues to be an inspiration for many.
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Recently, KL Rahul spoke about his fanboy moment with de Villiers when he first joined the RCB setup in 2013. In Gaurav Kapoor's Breakfast with Champions' new season, Rahul spilled the beans on his conversations with ABD and how he continues to leave him short of words.
"My kid in a candy store moment came in I think 2012 or 2013 season, which was my first. I walked in and (saw) Virat (Kohli), Chris Gayle, Zaheer Khan and AB, who was my favourite player and still is,” Rahul said. "I always go back and watch videos of him. Now, just before going to South Africa, I watched AB de Villiers hundreds in South Africa, then before going to England it was AB de Villiers in England. He has always been one of my favourite players,” he further revealed.
"I have a very nice, cute relationship with AB. I'm still very like... I don't have words. Nothing comes out. I try and then look like an idiot when trying to make a conversation with him after the games in IPL because there is so much I want to ask him but I don't know. It's a proper fanboy moment with him,” added Rahul.
At present, Rahul is leading the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the ongoing IPL 2022 edition in India. Under him, Lucknow lost their season-opener to another debutant team, Gujarat Titans by five wickets on Monday evening (March 28).