Former AB de Villiers of South African cricketer revealed that his initial dislike for Virat Kohli turned into close friendship after becoming a team partner. Royal Challengers Bangalore ,RCB) In the Indian Premier League (IPL). The revelation came after the declaration of Kohli’s retirement Test cricket On May 12, 2025, its 14 -year career, which began in 2011, ended.De Villiers reported that his equal competitive nature initially created a hindrance among them when he played as opponents.“Virat is like one of my cricketing brothers, I really loved someone when I knew him better. He was a complete pain to play against him, so before I knew him that I didn’t really like him because he was so good and competitive, he had a lot similar to me with that competitive nature,” De Villiers said. “De Villiers expanded to his competitive nature and how it influenced his relationship on the field.Quiz: Who is that IPL player?“We really like to win and we like to pull our weight within the team’s environment and if there is anything in danger that it usually brings aggressive body language and one who would attack back and is exactly like playing against Virat,” said de Villiers.After becoming team partners in RCB, their relationship developed a lot.
“Then I came to know him in RCB, I came to know him much better. We became family friends, became brothers and also became a great partner in the wicket when we played together, actually understood each other and I probably enjoyed every second of playing with him,” said de Villiers.De Villiers joined RCB in 2011 after his tenure with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capital) and played for the franchise for 11 seasons till his retirement after 2021 IPL season.The partnership between Kohli and de Villiers proved to be one of the most successful in IPL history. They conduct records for the highest runs scored as a pair, with 3,123 runs from 76 matches, including 10 century partnerships.
