IPL 2020: AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Chris Morris join RCB in Dubai
Royal Challengers Bangalore's South African stars AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn and Chris Morris joined the team in Dubai. The Bangalore franchise posted a video of the players' arrival at the team hotel on Saturday.
"The Proteas Arrive And here it is RCB fans, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! @abdevilliers17, @dalesteyn and @tipo_morris have joined the team in Dubai! #PlayBold #TravelDay #IPL2020 #BoldDiaries," RCB captioned the video.
AB de Villiers has been an integral part of the RCB camp since 2011 while Dale Steyn, who started his IPL career with the Bangalore in 2008, was brought back in the 2020 auction for the base price of INR 2 crore. Lanky Morris was one of the most expensive players in the auction ceremony as the former Delhi Capitals all-rounder was bought for INR 10 crore by RCB.
Meanwhile, the RCB arrived in the UAE on Friday for the cash-rich T20 league. RCB on Friday posted a photo of players in the flight to UAE and wrote, "UAE calling! The Royal Challengers are all set to take-off! Drop a Red heart if you’re happy to see the RCB fam together again! #PlayBold #TravelDays #IPL2020."
RCB skipper Virat Kohli, who made his own arrangements to reach Dubai directly from Mumbai following all BCCI SOP, also posted a photo from the team hotel after touching down.
Sixty games will be played over 53 days across three venues -- Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. In 2014, UAE had hosted the IPL partially due to the general elections in India. The 2020 edition of the IPL will commence from 19th September.
The postponement of the T20 World Cup in Australia created a window for the IPL, which was supposed to take place in March-May before the BCCI postponed it indefinitely due to the pandemic.
