The Rajat Patidar-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have been on a golden run in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season and the franchise is just one victory away from sealing their place in the playoffs.

RCB, who are chasing their first-ever IPL title win, will qualify for the playoffs if they win against defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.

Ahead of the contest, former South Africa batter and RCB legend, AB de Villiers said that he will definitely come to India if the franchise is able to make it to the final.

The IPL final will be played on June 3 while the playoffs will begin on May 29. Qualifier 1 and Eliminator will be played on May 29 and 30 while Qualifier 2 will go ahead on June 1. The venues for the playoffs is yet to be announced.

AB de Villiers represented RCB in the IPL for 11 years. He represented the team from 2011 to 2021. He had several memorable partnerships with Virat Kohli. At one point, RCB had one of the most lethal batting lineups, comprising Kohli, de Villiers and Chris Gayle.

However, the former South Africa captain was unable to lift the IPL title even once.

Looking at the franchise's red-hot form this season, de Villiers said that he wants to lift the trophy with his close friend Virat Kohli; hence, he will definitely come to India if RCB makes it to the final.

"Mark my words, if RCB makes it to the final, I will be there at the stadium with the boys. Nothing will give me more pleasure than to lift that trophy with Virat Kohli. I've tried that for many many years," said de Villiers during an Instagram Live session.

In his 13-year-long IPL career, de Villiers represented just two teams, Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and RCB.

He scored 5162 runs in 184 matches (170 innings) at an average of 39.70 and a strike rate of 151.68. He also smashed three centuries and 40 fifties.

AB de Villiers' tribute for Kohli

Earlier this week, Virat Kohli announced his retirement from Tests, bidding adieu to the longest format. He had scored 9230 runs in 123 Tests at an average of 46.85, including 30 centuries and 31 fifties.

In his tribute to Kohli, de Villiers revealed that he initially did not like the Indian superstar and thatit took him some time to get friendly with the right-handed batter.

"Virat is like one of my cricketing brothers, someone I really grew fond of when I got to know him better.

He's an absolute pain to play against, so before I knew him I didn't really like him a lot because he was so good and so competitive, very similar to me with that competitive nature," said de Villiers in a video shared by ICC.

"Then I got to know him at RCB, I got to know him a lot better. We became family friends, became brothers and also became great partners at the wicket when we played together, really understood each other out there and I probably enjoyed every second of playing with him," he added.

It must be mentioned that Kohli and de Villiers hold the record for scoring the most runs as a pair in IPL history, registering 3123 runs from 76 matches, including 10 stands of more than 100 runs.

Speaking of RCB, the franchise are currently in the second place in the standings. The team have three more matches left in the league stage - one against KKR, one against SunRisers Hyderabad and one against Lucknow Super Giants.