RCB great AB de Villiers has revealed that he will return to the Chinnaswamy Stadium in the next season’s Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) for the Bangalore franchise, but in a different avatar.
De Villiers, who played his last IPL match against KKR in 2021, retired from international cricket in 2018.
“I will return to Chinnaswamy next year, not for playing but to apologise all the fans for not winning the trophy and thank them for the support over a decade,” De Villiers said on Twitter space on Monday.
“I am not playing cricket again due to right side eye surgery,” he added.
The IPL will return to its original, pre-COVID-19, home-and-away format from the 2023 season, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly conveyed to the Board's affiliated state units.
The IPL has been held at only a few venues since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 as the lucrative league unfolded behind closed doors across three venues in UAE—Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
In 2021 too, the tournament was held across four venues -- Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Chennai.
However, with the pandemic under control, the cash-rich league will return to its old format in which each team plays one home and one away match.
"The next season of men's IPL will also go back to the home and away format with all ten teams playing their home matches at their designated venues," read a Ganguly's note to state units.
