Virat Kohli’s career path similar to mine: AB de Villiers

RCB are blessed to have two modern day greats, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, in their ranks. Showering praise on his IPL captain, De Villiers said that Kohli is the best batsman in the world due to his success across all formats.

Both star batsmen are known to form a mutual admiration society whenever asked who they think is better. Kohli has always maintained that De Villiers is the best batsman because he can’t do what the South African is capable of doing. On the other hand, the South African thinks that because he is not playing one of the formats – he has taken a short break from test cricket – for quite some time, hence he can’t be the best in the world.

“I don’t think I can be the best batsman. I don’t play all formats,” he pointed out, referring to his decision to take a break from Test cricket in 2017. “He is definitely the best player in the world. He has got competition in quite a few players like Steven Smith, Kane Williamson, and there are a lot of players – Quinton de Kock coming through – around the world. But I truly believe you can be the best player only if you play all formats in cricket. If you are in the top five in all three formats, that’s when you know you can really play the game,” said AB to Wisden India.

De Villiers believes that both his and Kohli’s career followed the same path. Their rise in the first couple of years of their careers was steady. They achieved rapid growth thereafter which culminated them into becoming one of the leading batsmen in the world. They had similarities in the level of competitiveness and passion, the Protea pointed out.

“I am a few years ahead of him,” said de Villiers, who made his international debut in 2004, with Kohli making his India debut four years later in 2008. “I think I was very similar to him – play the game with a lot of passion, energy, and good skills, working hard at your game, not accepting defeat at all. He is always competitive, he is one of the most competitive people I have ever come across. I was very similar to that. I haven’t ‘learned’ that from him but it is nice to see the way he plays. That is probably something that I enjoy watching, that passion. He is giving me that passion in the old age!”

They are superstars in their own unique way. They have a lot in common. They haven’t won an IPL trophy yet in their careers and would love to change it this time around. RCB, on the backs of a stellar show by both batsmen, reached the finals of last year’s IPL but felt agonisingly short of the finishing line as they lost to Sunrisers by 8 runs.

They were beaten by the same opposition in last night’s season opener, a fixture both the star players skipped due to injuries. Both stalwarts will be back to playing very soon and will leave no stone unturned in winning the IPL title for their side.