Virat Kohli, close friend and former RCB teammate of Ab de Villiers, pens a letter to him after South African star’s induction in Hall of Fame. (File)
After South African cricket great Ab de Villers was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame on Wednesday, his former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate and close friend Virat Kohli hailed the Proteas player as the “most talented cricketer” he has played with.
“You are thoroughly deserving of your place – after all, the Hall of Fame is a representation of your impact on the game, and yours has been truly unique. People have always spoken about your ability, and rightly so. You are the most talented cricketer I have played with, the absolute number one,” Kohli penned in a letter to de Villiers upon the South African’s induction.
The South African great averages over 50 in Tests and ODIs combined and has a strike rate of over 135 in T20Is and has played many a memorable knocks in his career.
Kohli in his letter would speak about one such match when Royal Challengers Bangalore were playing against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2016.
“We were chasing 184 (for RCB in 2016) against an attack including Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel, Andre Russell and Shakib Al Hasan. You came in to join me with around 70 on the board and Narine was bowling. You played and missed a couple and told me during a timeout that you weren’t picking him too well. I felt I was, so I remember telling you to give me the strike and I would try and hit boundaries off him,” Kohli wrote.
“In the first over Narine bowled after the timeout, I was ready at the non-striker’s end thinking you were definitely giving me a single. So, imagine my surprise when you back away to the leg side, Sunil follows you and you slog sweep him over square leg for a 94-metre six!
“I don’t know what happened in the timeout to give you the belief you could do that. I just remember saying to you, “you’re a freak!”
“If I have a lack of belief against someone, I’d just try and get off strike – but you hit him for a 94-metre six without picking the ball. That sums you up. You could just do things our minds were not ready to process, and then everyone thinks ‘how the hell did that happen?’” he added.
Even though de Villiers is more celebrated for his white ball antics, he could be relied on to save his team from precarious situations in red ball cricket like in 2008, when he made an unbeaten 106* in a near five-hour stay in South Africa’s successful chase of 414 against Australia, and in the corresponding 2012 Tour, made a 220-ball 33 to help his side save an Adelaide Test match.
Kohli would also write about his friend’s exploits in Delhi in 2015 when he faced 297 balls to score 43 runs in order to save the Test.
“Everyone remembers your attacking shots but you would adapt to the situation. Take 2015, in Delhi, when you faced 297 balls and made 43 trying to save the Test match. There must have been a temptation at some stage to think ‘I’ve faced 200 balls, I need to hit a boundary’. But once you locked yourself into what the situation required, you just kept going on and on. It all comes back to that belief in your ability,” Kohli wrote.
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