The Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper-batsman sustained the injury during a fielding session a day before their Group B encounter against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chinnaswamy stadium.
"Fractured my hand in today's training session.
Obviously very disappointed, but that's part of sport," de Villiers tweeted, shortly after Virat Kohli had confirmed that the Protean was out of the competition.
“Unfortunately, AB has broken his left finger during practice and he is flying back home,” Kohli told newsmen in the afternoon. We are not yet sure who is going to keep wickets. The replacement might be Arun Karthik or Tillakaratne Dilshan but it will be decided by tomorrow.”
De Villiers had played a neat cameo during the Challengers’ three-wicket loss to the Warriors on Friday, and brings a lot of energy, experience and enterprise to the ranks. “Not having AB is a big loss for us, but we have to cope up with it,” added Kohli. “We have quality players in our ranks and we have to step up and take more responsibility now.” The injury puts a cloud over de Villiers’ availability for the limited-overs series against Australia at home, beginning on October 13.
