Kohli, De Villiers apologise for poor RCB show

Bengaluru, May 5 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bangalore tweeted a video of captain Virat Kohli and star batsman AB de Villiers in which the pair thanked fans of the franchise for their support and apologised for the team's dismal performance this season.

RCB lost their first six matches on the trot and were the first team to go out of contention for the playoffs.

"You guys are incredible," said De Villiers, in the video tweeted by RCB on Friday, before talking about how their match against Rajasthan Royals was one of the most memorable games of his career. The game in Bangalore was reduced to a 5-over a side match with much of it being washed out and yet the fans stayed on till the end. RCB batted first and scored 62/7, but rains returned in the fourth over of the RR innings and umpires had to declare a washout.

Kohli said the season was as disappointing for players as it was for fans. "We will do everything we can, next year to turn this around," he said. "Even after three hours of the match being washed out, you sat in the stadium and gave us the loudest cheer when we walked out to bat. That's special. Thank you so much for being the lovely fans."

"Sorry about the ups and downs. we are hoping to finish on a high. Please keep supporting us. It keeps us going and, hopefully, something special will come out of the last game and the next season," said De Villiers.

RCB beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets in their final game, a result that was a major blow for the latter hoping to make it to the playoffs. It was their fifth win of the season and it helped them jump to the seventh spot. Whether they finish the season last or not depends upon the result of Sunday's match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings.