AB de Villiers, the South African cricket legend, wrote a touching message for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after being inducted into the RCB Hall of Fame and having his jersey number retired. De Villiers, along with West Indies great Chris Gayle, was honoured at the RCB Unbox event held at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.


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In recognition of their contributions to the team, the Bangalore-based franchise retired De Villiers's No. 17 and Gayle's No. 333 jersey numbers. De Villiers took to social media to express his gratitude to RCB and their supporters, stating that it was an emotional moment for him when he stepped onto the dressing room balcony at Chinnaswamy Stadium, with tears in his eyes.


"So, on March 26, 2023, Chris and I were inducted into the RCB Hall of Fame and our jersey numbers retired forever. My heart blossomed as my wife, two boys and a little girl walked up the stairs to enter our RCB den, stairs that I have walked up so many times with butterflies fluttering in my stomach. It felt weird to walk up there in a different state of mind," de Villiers wrote in an Instagram post.


"Tears filled my eyes when I stepped onto the balcony of our dressing room at the Chinnaswamy in front of a packed stadium. I never thought hearing the chants of ABD could beat the first time, but this time was different. It used to be adrenalin combined with an extreme hunger to please the cry out of our fans to find a way to win. This time it was a sea of emotion that filled my body as I simply felt grateful to have had my time in the arena representing a proud city, an amazing franchise and incredible teammates," he added.


"So many special memories rushed back as I thought of all my days spent in India since 2003, I have a deep connection with this country and i's people. I'll forever be grateful!"


"Thank you, teammates, especially Virat, thank you RCB, thank you Bengaluru," he concluded.


De Villiers joined RCB in 2011 and amassed 4,522 runs in 144 innings with a strike rate of 158.33. He announced his retirement from all formats of cricket in November 2021.