De Villiers-Kohli are good friends, both played together for IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Star Indian cricketer Virat Kohli has written a letter to former South African batsman AB de Villiers. Kohli wrote this letter after De Villiers was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame. De Villiers was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame on Wednesday alongside England legend Alastair Cook and India’s Neetu David.
This letter was published by ICC, in which Kohli praised his former teammate from IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Kohli wrote: “You fully deserve your place. Ultimately, the Hall of Fame represents your impact on the game and your contribution has been truly tremendous. People have always talked about your potential and that is also true. You are the most talented cricketer I have played with, you are definitely number one.
I liked having confidence in myself the most. He added: “But what I liked most was your confidence in your abilities. You had the confidence that you could do whatever you wanted on the cricket field, and you usually did. That’s why you became so special.
There is no better example in my mind than when we were fighting together for RCB against KKR in Kolkata in 2016. We were chasing the target of 184 runs. KKR included bowlers like Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel, Andre Russell and Shakib Al Hasan. You came to play with me when the score was 70 and Narine was bowling.
You played two point balls and during the timeout you told me you weren’t picking his balls correctly. I told you to give me some strokes and I’ll try to reach the limits of his balls.
After the timeout, Narine came, I was ready on the non-striker side and I thought you would definitely give me a single. But in failing to do so, he hit a 94-yard six off Narine’s ball.
This is one of those memorable moments where I was fighting with you. It was my favorite time to play on the cricket field.
Often used to save his team from difficulties “In difficult situations, it is often you who saves your team. Your desire to be the man to win games for your team was immense and I learned a lot from it.
forget the last game and watch today “I remember learning from you that it shouldn’t matter what we did in the last four matches. What is important is how you look at today’s match and your performance .You have always been very attentive to the team’s needs. That’s why when we played against each other in international cricket, it was very difficult for you to plan.
I remember your innings played in Delhi in 2015. “Everyone remembers your aggressive shots but you adapt to the situation. Take the Test match played in Delhi in 2015 when you faced 297 balls and scored 43 runs in an attempt to save the Test match. I still remember those rounds.
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