Virat Kohli was awe-struck by the support AB de Villiers got from the Indian fans while playing for South Africa.
India batter Virat Kohli lavished praise on his ex-Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) teammate AB de Villiers. Kohli and De Villiers shared a dressing room in the RCB franchise for a decade and their bonding got stronger with time.
The ex-RCB skipper, Kohli called De Villiers an 'extraordinary player' and lauded his batting abilities, which he believes is superior to anyone else. He further spoke about how the Proteas batter would come back from a break of 6 months and it wouldn't reflect in his batting.
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“A guy like AB can contribute so much to the environment he is part of just by being himself. Amazing human being, extraordinary player. No one even needs to talk about his game. It is beyond belief the kind of things he does,” Kohli said on the RCB Podcast.
“As much as I have been at the peak of playing international cricket, he just comes off a six-month layoff and bat in a manner that makes you feel like, 'I've probably worked five years to get to this level and this guy comes after a 6-month layoff without playing any cricket and he is batting five levels above you'. It is phenomenal. I don't think anyone has had the kind of ability AB has,” he added.
Kohli also spoke about De Villiers as a person, away from cricket, and he admitted that former South Africa inspires him. “His approach towards life in general and the way he enjoys the game is such an inspiration for me. If I have taken inspiration from anyone within the game outside of the field, that has to be AB.
"The way he has taken decisions to prioritize the right things in his life. At the end of the day that is all that matters. So if I had to convince anyone it has to be AB,” he said.
The 33-year-old recalled the ODI clash between India and South Africa in 2015 when De Villiers had smashed 119 off 61 balls at the Wankhede Stadium. The crowd had started the chants of De Villiers as he ripped the Indian bowling apart.
Kohli said that De Villiers is the one foreign player that he played with RCB who he would have liked to see playing for India. He added that it wouldn't be a challenging transition considering the Indian fans already love him.
“It would be a very easy decision because he already gets support from the Indian crowd even when he played for South Africa against India. Fifty thousand people in the stadium shout 'ABD, ABD'.
"That can't happen by chance, it is a very, very special thing to happen and it does not happen to anyone anywhere in the world. It is not like South African fans had come to Wankhede, they were Indian fans chanting his name. We were like, what the hell is going on here. But that is who he is, that is the magic of AB,” he said.
(With RCB Podcast Inputs)