IPL 2021: “It feels surreal,” Kohli shares his excitement on playing the upcoming season in India again

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper, Virat Kohli, seems excited to see the IPL return to the country after the 13th edition of the tournament was placed in UAE due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kohli is optimistic of RCB turning things around this year in the cash-rich league as the teams battle it out in different scenarios.

“It feels surreal. Honestly, it doesn’t feel like we went away for too long as there was a lot of cricket in between as well but yeah, very excited that we are playing in India again,” Kohli said i his video posted on RCB’s official twitter handle.

“Although in a different way, in a different setting. I am very optimistic and yes I have a good feeling this time around,” he continued.

RCB batsman AB de Villiers can still feel the momentum which his side gained in the UAE last year. RCB is scheduled to play IPL 2021 as a season opener against the defending champions Mumbai Indians in Chennai on April 9, where Villiers think they can continue the momentum from last year’s tournament.

“It was a long journey. Very happy to be back with RCB, it feels like yesterday that we finished the IPL. I feel we have the momentum from the last tournament and we’ll have a lot of fun,” Villiers said.

“There are some new names but also old names, the people I have known for ages. Dan has been with RCB before, it’s Maxwell’s first time but we all have seen him so often in IPL, hopefully, a lot of games for us to win together,” he added.

Kohli and Villiers joined the bubble in Chennai on Thursday. According to the guidelines given by BCCI, only support staff and management entering the bubble need to undergo a seven day quarantine in their hotel rooms.