AB de Villiers, the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsman, will miss Tuesday’s (April 18) clash against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot due to his recurring back trouble. De Villiers mentioned in a video blog post that he took a few injections on Monday that generally take up to 48 hours to settle down.
The South African batsman, who stayed back in Bengaluru, broke the news on Twitter (which was later removed*) a few hours ahead of the match.
The South African batsman had already missed the first two matches of the season with a back injury but came back to score a stunning unbeaten 89 in the third match, in a losing cause, against Kings XI Punjab.
The news comes as a massive blow for the Bangalore-based franchise who are languishing at the bottom of the table after losing four out of their five matches. RCB’s batting has already looked shaky this season with the likes of Chris Gayle and Shane Watson not striking form.
Earlier this season, they lost KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan for the entire tournament because of injuries and had also missed the services of regular skipper Virat Kohli for the first three matches.
