‘He was a bit cocky when he was a youngster’ - AB de Villiers on Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers share a very special bond. But many may not know how the seeds of their friendship were sown. The former Proteas batter re-winded the clock, opening up on his first meeting with Kohli.

Revealing on the RCB podcast, De Villiers shared that his first impression of Kohli was of a 'cocky person'. With Virat quite young at that time, his aggression and attitude was quite evident and did not remain hidden to the cricketing fraternity.

"We ran into each other a few times before we properly met. I knew about him, he knew about me. I said it a few times that I thought he was a bit cocky when he was a youngster, so that was my initial impression," De Villiers mentioned on the RCB podcast.

"Even though I could see that he has got respect and the basics are in place, I felt like he has got a bit of swagger going in. So, I didn’t hold it against him because you need it at that point of age. We had a really short discussion, I didn’t give him any compliments or anything like that. But, I remember clearly at Wanderers when I got picked up by RCB, and it was a nice discussion of looking forward to playing together," Mr.360 added. 

As the South African joined the Bangalore-based franchise in 2011, his connection with Kohli instantly took off. The duo since then has smashed several records while batting with each other.

"Once I got to Bangalore, the connection just kicked off straight away. Our proper friendship started when I started playing for RCB in 2011. That’s probably when we started becoming good friends," the retired batsman quoted. 

"I am kind of a guy where I don’t really keep in touch but for some reason with Virat, it just happens, so we stay in touch. It’s easy as he is on telly the whole time when I am at home. We both have a lot of basics in common. The way we play the game is quite similar. He is a fighter and I sort of relate to the way he plays the game and another fighter in the team, would have been great," he concluded.

While Virat has been a vital part of RCB since 2008, ABD joined the team in 2011. Fans will longer see their on-field partnership as de Villiers recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.