AB de Villiers watched his RCB teammate Virat Kohli waltz away to his fifth IPL century against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Royal Challengers Bangalore registered just their second win in the tournament, all thanks to the brilliance of Kohli and another stormy cameo by Moeen Ali (66 in 28 balls).
De Villiers had to miss the game after being hit on the head during practice. In his column for the Times of India, De Villiers was full of praise for the RCB skipper, whose 58-ball 100 proved to be decisive in the outcome of the match.
"Virat has endured a challenging campaign, like all of us at RCB — although we're not dead yet in this tournament — but he produced the perfect T20 innings in Kolkata, batting from the first over until the last ball, scoring a masterful century, leading his team to victory," De Villiers wrote.
Analyzing Kohli’s innings against KKR, De Villiers wrote, "He initially accepted responsibility to anchor the innings, skillfully working the ball into gaps while Moeen Ali led the charge; and then, in the closing four overs, like a cricketing Vesuvius, Virat erupted in a blaze of dazzling stroke-play, crashing 45 runs from only 16 balls.”
De Villiers further writes that Kohli leads RCB and India from the front, skill and courage and given that he plays in so much scrutiny from over a billion people dissecting every word, action and reaction of the cricketer. “It is my privilege to watch him work, to watch him practice and plan, to watch him perform and, as a man and cricketer, he has my total admiration," the former South Africa captain added.
Kuldeep Yadav, KKR and India’s Chinaman bowler was taken apart by the RCB batsmen, as he went for 59 runs in 4 overs, the joint most expensive figures for a spinner in IPL, came in for some praise by De Villiers.
"Make no mistake, aged 24, Yadav is a proper champion. Armed with a quick wrist and great disguise, he's famously difficult to pick — very often, it's impossible to know which way the ball is going to turn. And he's not conservative: he's gutsy and brave, unafraid to give the ball flight in the quest for wickets, and I'm backing him to play a major role in India's forthcoming campaign to win the World Cup," de Villiers concluded.
(Time of India inputs)
