Former South African cricketer AB de Villiers, who has been Known for his explosive batting style, has left an indelible mark on the sport. The remarkable batter, who was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame recently, along with former England captain and opener Alastair Cook and former India women’s left-arm spinner Neetu David, received admiration from Indian batting supremo Virat Kohli. 

Praising de Villiers, Kohli called him ‘the absolute number one’. Both Virat Kohli and de Villiers share great bonhomie, having played together in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for many years. 

“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,” Kohli wrote in his letter to de Villiers.

“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.”

Kohli harked back to de Villiers’ monstrous six off Sunil Narine during a match against Kolkata Knight Riders back in 2016. 

“There is no better example in my mind than when we were batting together for RCB in Kolkata in 2016. 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,” Kohli wrote.