Humble ABD 'honoured' to be in IPL final
De Villiers played a match-winning knock of an unbeaten 79 against the Lions in the semifinals here last night to pilot the RCB into the IPL summit clash on Sunday.
Â
"To be in IPL final means much to me and I have not played in a lot of finals throughout my career. Having played for RCB for six years have not seen playing in finals. It is a great honour and privilege to be in the finals with this great franchise which has looked after me and the team over the years," de Villiers said at the post-match press conference.
Â
"Lot of people were saying we were under performing but moments like this makes things worthwhile. We had a great team spirit for some years now, and have played some good cricket.
Â
But never got to really enjoy the finals and hopefully we will win it but we don't know what's going to happen," he added.
Â
Chasing 159 for a win, RCB looked down and out at 29 for five wickets, with Dhawal Kulkarni grabbing four of them, before de Villiers smashed 79 not out off 47 balls to script a sensational comeback and take the team home in 18.2 overs.
Â
Â
Asked about the semifinals victory, de Villiers said, "Kulkarni bowled a fantastic spell and lots of credit is going to go to him. He basically had the game in their (Lions') pockets.
Â
"But like Zaheer Khan (his former RCB team-mate) always tells me it is a funny little game and you are never out of it. So, we always had a belief in the back of our minds. They almost won the game in powerplay and we just kept fighting, kept fighting," he said.
Â
Asked if would rate his 79 not out as one of the best innings of his IPL career, de Villiers said he gives a damn about statistics but only concerned about helping the team to race past the winning post.
Â
"I always said it. I honestly don't give a damn about any stats. I don't think anything about my hundreds or fifties. It was special for me to cross the line for the team and win a game. That is why I play this game," he said.
Â
De Villiers said the Chinnaswamy wicket played funny and anything about 160 runs to chase would have spelt trouble for his team.
Â
"Yes, it was funny kind of a wicket. While we were bowling, I thought anything above 160 we will be in trouble.
Â
The wicket didn't seem like a wicket we can go and score out there," he said.