Kohli hails De Villiers on induction in ICC Hall of Fame

Virat Kohli on Wednesday described AB de Villiers as the most talented cricketer he has played with after the South African great was inducted into the ICC Hall of FameDe Villers was included in the long list of great players along with England legend Alastair Cook and Indias Neetu DavidIn an open letter to the inductees by those close to them Kohli was effusive in praise of his teammate at IPL side Royal Challengers BengaluruYou are thoroughly deserving of your place iquest after all the Hall of Fame is a representation of your impact on the game and yours has been truly unique he wrotePeople have always spoken about your ability and rightly so You are the most talented cricketer I have played with the absolute number oneKohli described de Villiers belief and doggedness to uphold the games values as the qualities that had an impact on the psyche of those watchingA lot of players can have impressive numbers but very few have an impact on the psyche of those watching he wroteAlso ReadNeetu David becomes second Indian woman to be inducted into ICC Hall of FameFor me that is the highest value you can have as a cricketer and that is what makes you so specialThrough my time playing with and against you you always had a very clear understanding of how the game should be played and you never really veered from that regardless of whether you were doing well or not he addedKohli said de Villiers was someone who was bailing his teams out of troubles more often than notIt was never about someone else It was never about competing with another player he describedIt was always about what impact you could create for the team In difficult situations you were the man bailing out your team more often than notYour drive to want to be the guy to win the game for your team was tremendous and something I learned a lot from he saidKohli said de Villiers taught him about the importance of not resting on laurelsI remember taking from you that it doesnt matter what you have done in the last four games it is about how you approach the game todayIt is about always being positive always taking the game on and finding a way to get the job doneVirat Kohlis letter to AB De Villiers congratulating him on being inducted into ICC Hall of Fame pictwittercomfFK5edfmKwmdash Mufaddal Vohra mufaddal_vohra October 16 2024You were always completely in tune with the needs of the team which made you one of the hardest players to make plans for when we were on opposing sides in international cricket he addedKohli who shared the RCB dressing room with de Villiers for a decade from 20112021 said the former South African captains selfbelief is one trait that stood out for himBut 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 he wroteAlongside recalling a special moment while playing together for RCB in a contest against Kolkata Knight Riders Kohli also recollected memories of the 2015 Test in New Delhi one in which the Proteas batters fought hard to force a drawEveryone remembers your attacking shots but you would adapt to the situation Take 2015 in Delhi when you faced 297 balls and made 43 trying to save the Test match Kohli saidThere must have been a temptation at some stage to think Ive faced 200 balls I need to hit a boundary But once you locked yourself into what the situation required you just kept going on and onIt all comes back to that belief in your ability It wasnt just about the crazy extravagant shots You had the ability to defend the ball and had belief in that defence To play that way because South Africa needed you to do so is a classic example of the team player you were he addedWith PTI inputs