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AB de Villiers Explains Why Virat Kohli is His Favourite Batting Partner

Shivani Shukla

image-llt0cm1rAB de Villiers in action for RCB | Source: Twitter 

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Former South Africa and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter AB de Villiers named Virat Kohli as his favourite T20 and IPL batting partner. He also admitted that his and Kohli's playing styles sometimes clashed, but they managed to iron things out for the team’s benefit. 

During a Q&A on his YouTube channel, De Villiers was put on the spot about his best batting partner. He chose Hashim Amla during his South African days and gave a nod to Kohli for RCB.

 

Here’s what De Villiers said

“I absolutely loved batting with Hashim Amla for the Proteas. I think we got some incredible partnerships together. In T20 cricket and IPL, definitely Virat. Our personalities and our way of playing clashed a little bit. We were both very intense. Both wanted to take the game away from the opposition immediately, which sounds like the dream partnership.” 


“Sometimes it clashes, but Virat and I know each other so well, we managed to find a way to make it work because we understand each other’s game so well. I know him so well off the field, we found a way to make that clash of personalities.”

Kohli and De Villiers sit atop the charts with the two highest partnerships ever seen in Indian Premier League (IPL) history. 

They combined for a stellar 229 runs against Gujarat Lions in Bengaluru during 2016, and an unbeaten 215 against Mumbai Indians at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium in 2015. 

The former Proteas batter further confessed that both of them operated in the fifth and sixth gears while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore, and their commitment firmly centred on the team's success, leaving everything else aside.

“Sometimes, we would go too hard. He would get out, I would get out and all of a sudden RCB would be 30/3. Virat and I were fifth-sixth gear all the way guys, which paid off sometimes. In the IPL, I can think of that 200 partnership in Mumbai. At the Chinnaswamy, another 200 partnership. We always played for the team and nothing else mattered.”  

Having called it quits from the Indian Premier League in 2021, AB de Villiers is now generating buzz with rumours hinting at a potential comeback in a different capacity for the upcoming IPL season.