The International Cricket Council (ICC) inducted AB de Villiers, Neetu David and Alastair Cook into the prestigious ICC Hall of Fame on Wednesday, October 16. Virat Kohli was quick to congratulate his former RCB teammate de Villiers with an emotional letter.
Kohli and de Villiers enjoyed one of the fiercest partnerships in T20 cricket until the latter’s retirement in 2021. The South African stalwart spent 11 years with the Bengaluru-based franchise where he developed an off-the-pitch relationship with Kohli.
The Indian legend pointed out de Villiers’ impact and his unique belief to ‘execute whatever he wanted’ on the field. In his letter, Kohli also termed the Proteas legend as the most talented cricketer he has played with so far.
“To AB, It is an honour to be selected to write these words as you enter the ICC Hall of Fame,” Virat Kohli wrote in his open letter. “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.
“But what truly stood out to me was your belief in that ability. You had a crazy amount of belief that you could execute whatever you wanted to on a cricket field, and you normally did. That is why you ended up being so special.”
Both Kohli and de Villiers displayed destructive cricket during the memorable IPL 2016 season where the former set a new run-scoring record by scorching 973 runs in just 16 innings and the latter smashed 687 runs at a strike rate of 168.79.
“There is no better example in my mind than when we were batting together for RCB in Kolkata in 2016,” Kohli wrote further. “We were chasing 184 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. 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!”
