AB de Villiers recalls his first impression of Virat Kohli when he joined the Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2011. During the IPL, Kohli and De Villiers had several memorable partnerships.
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers share a great bond as they’ve spent a lot of time playing together for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. The duo involve in numerous memorable combinations throughout the years and loved each other’s company not just on but also off the field.
However, the first impression of the Indian star wasn’t too pleasing for De Villiers. The South African legend, recently, reveal that he didn’t like Virat Kohli during his first meeting with the star Indian batter and found him to be ‘cocky and arrogant.’
“Oh, my gosh… I’ve received this question before, and I’ve provided this answer previously. I think he was quite cocky and arrogant when I met him the first time. With that haircut and strut…yes, flamboyant, sure,” stated De Villiers in an interview with Chris Gayle on RCB’s official YouTube Channel.
The former South African captain went on to say that Kohli had a barrier around him during their first meeting.
once it was broken down, he got to know the former RCB captain better and began to respect him.
“But the minute I got to know him a little more and watched him play. Still have a lot of respect for him, but I got to know him better as a person. ” I believe he had a barrier surrounding him when I first met him, and that barrier opened up as I got to know him. I didn’t like him, but you get what I mean. He’s a great guy today, but his initial impression was ufff…he has to come down to earth a little,” De Villiers remarked.
Kohli and De Villiers were one of the most fearsome batting combinations in IPL history. In their IPL history, the combo had five 100-plus runs and two 200-plus partnerships. They also hold the record for the biggest partnership in the competition’s history, having torn apart Gujarat Lions in the 2016 edition by accumulating 229 runs off just 97 balls for the second wicket.
AB de Villiers and Gayle inducted in RCB ‘Hall of Fame’
Similarly, AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle were recently welcomed into the Royal Challengers Bangalore ‘Hall of Fame’ for their contributions to the team. De Villiers joined RCB in 2011 and remained with the team until his retirement in 2021, while Gayle was with the Bangalore-based franchise from 2011 to 2017, before joining Punjab Kings in 2018.
The West Indian legend is the greatest batter to ever play in the IPL, holding several batting records. De Villiers, on the other hand, is the tournament’s sixth-highest run-scorer with 5162 runs in 184 matches at an average of 39.70 and a strike rate of 151.68.
Having failed to win the IPL in 15 years, RCB will try to end their trophy drought in the current season, which begins on April 2 against Mumbai Indians at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
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