'Most talented cricketer' - Virat Kohli pens down heartfelt letter to Hall of Fame inductee AB de Villiers

Star Indian cricketer Virat Kohli has hailed former South African skipper AB de Villiers as the most talented cricketer he has ever played with, following the legend's induction into the ICC Hall of Fame. De Villiers joins the ranks of England's Alastair Cook and Indian women's cricket genius Neetu David in the class of 2024.

AB de Villiers' cricketing career began in 2004 when he debuted for South Africa and scored his first Test century in his debut series. His career saw great heights, as he scored over 20,000 runs across all international formats and earned the nickname "Mr. 360" for his innovative and explosive batting style.

Also Read: Alastair Cook, AB de Villiers and Neetu David inducted into The ICC Hall of Fame as Class of 2024

You are thoroughly deserving of your place: Virat Kohli

In Test cricket, his unbeaten 278 against Pakistan in 2010 is the highest individual score for South Africa in Tests. His skills behind the stumps were as impressive, equaling the Test record for most dismissals in a match with 11 catches against Pakistan in 2013.

In limited-overs cricket, the former Proteas player holds the record for the fastest men's ODI century and clinched multiple ICC Men's ODI Player of the Year Awards. His ability to dominate across all formats is reflected in his remarkable averages, over 50 in Tests and ODIs, with a striking rate exceeding 135 in T20Is.

Kohli, who shared the Royal Challengers Bengaluru dressing room with De Villiers, penned a heartfelt letter to his friend and former teammate -

"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.

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.

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.

You 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," Kohli recalled.