Latest news with #EeSaalaCupNamde
NDTV
a day ago
- Sport
- NDTV
AB De Villiers Breaks Big RCB-Related Promise Made To Virat Kohli, Says "It Wasn't My Fault"
On the note of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) making their way to the IPL 2025 final, one of their former cricketers, AB de Villiers, has revealed that he ended up breaking a promise he had made to Virat Kohli. De Villiers revealed that he had said the catchphrase "Ee Saala Cup Namde" (This year, the cup will be ours) despite promising to Kohli that he would not utter it during the season. The phrase has become a part of RCB folklore given the team's inability to win the title over the years. On Thursday, RCB comprehensively beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier 1 to enter the IPL 2025 final. De Villiers revealed that he had accidentally said the catchphrase, and even reiterated that it wasn't his own fault. "Yeah, it wasn't my fault. The guys are rude over here, man. They're setting traps for me," said de Villiers, speaking on Star Sports. De Villiers had seemingly promised to his former teammate Kohli that he wouldn't utter the phrase "Ee Saala Cup Namde" during the 2025 season. Kohli and de Villiers shared the RCB dressing room for 11 years, during which RCB lost the final on two occasions. Notably, they lost the final in 2016, narrowly to Sunrisers Hyderabad. RCB have achieved success in IPL 2025 under the coaching of Andy Flower, following a good auction. Mo Bobat, Director of Cricket at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), said nailing the side's actual shape, based on the vision the think-tank had envisaged during last year's auction, has been the most rewarding aspect of the IPL 2025 season. "Nobody gets everything they want at an auction. It's pretty much impossible. But I think we got predominantly what we wanted in terms of playing personnel. But more importantly, with the actual shape of the team and the vision of that team that Andy and I spent so much time thinking about and talking about, we pretty much nailed that." "And that's probably been the satisfying thing this season - that you get to see that come to life on the field," said Bobat in a video posted by the franchise on their YouTube channel on Saturday. Apart from various players stepping up to do the job for making RCB win, Bobat shared head coach Andy Flower's changed approach has also been helpful, especially with a new skipper in Rajat Patidar at the helm. "I've really enjoyed watching Andy head coach slightly differently this year to how he did last year. The team has changed and the captain has changed. Essentially, we share the principle that we would like our players to walk onto the field and make their own decisions. And to do that, you've got to create a decision-rich environment on and off the field." "For Andy and I, creating a sort of environment where people feel safe, where they feel backed, where they feel like they're accountable for their own decisions, and where they're able to hopefully showcase their strengths - that's the key bit."
India Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- India Today
AB de Villiers breaks Ee Saala Cup Namde promise to Virat Kohli: Not my fault
Legendary cricketer AB de Villiers admitted to uttering the four words he had been explicitly told not to by his good friend and former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate, Virat Kohli. Speaking a day after RCB thrashed Punjab Kings in Mullanpur to reach the Indian Premier League (IPL) final after nine years, De Villiers said he was not to blame and promised he would not repeat those four words the uninitiated, De Villiers had revealed earlier in April that Kohli had warned him against saying 'Ee Saala Cup Namde' — a popular catchphrase among RCB supporters, which translates to 'The Cup is ours this year.' The phrase has been widely used over the past few years, even as RCB have repeatedly faltered under pressure, with the title continuing to elude commonly echoed by RCB players, including Kohli himself, the phrase has come to be seen as something of a jinx. Now, with RCB on the brink of achieving something special, De Villiers expressed his heartfelt wishes for the franchise, praising their impressive performances this season. 'Yeah, it wasn't my fault. The guys are rude over here, man — they're setting traps for me,' De Villiers joked, when host Mayanti Langer asked whether he had, in fact, said the forbidden De Villiers had avoided saying 'Ee Saala Cup Namde' for most of his broadcasting duties on Thursday.'Look, the guys are playing some very good cricket. They know they have to go out there, lay the foundation again, put in the hard yards, and handle the big moments better than whoever they come up against. I'm super excited. I'm confident as well — but that doesn't mean we're going to win,' he added.'So I won't utter those words again.'RCB delivered a clinical performance with the ball after winning the toss and choosing to bowl on a spicy pitch with a thick grass covering. The former finalists bowled Punjab out for just 101 in 14.1 overs, with Josh Hazlewood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal dismantling the Punjab top and middle order, before Suyash Sharma claimed three wickets to clean up the lower-middle Virat Kohli failed to make an impact with the bat, falling for 14, Phil Salt's explosive 56* off 27 balls ensured RCB chased down the target in just 10 overs, securing their place in the their win in Qualifier 1, the RCB players kept their celebrations muted, acknowledging that the job was not yet done. Kohli was seen signalling to his wife Anushka Sharma, who was in the stands at Mullanpur, indicating that there was still one more match to go before the celebrations could truly Reel IN THIS STORY#IPL 2025
