CT 2017: Virat Kohli empathizes with AB de Villiers ahead of knockout clash

When team India locks horns with South Africa in the virtual quarter-final encounter of the ICC Champions Trophy, everything will be at stake for the two sides. The eyes will be on the captains of the two teams – Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Both players play for the same franchise in the Indian Premier League and share a great camaraderie. They have often heaped praises on one another.

Now, the time has come when they will try to one another’s team in the marquee clash. Ahead of the big game, the two players seemed to have empathized with each other. AB de Villiers is yet to score good in the tournament – with 4 and 0 being his numbers in the tournament thus far. On the other hand, Virat Kohli had also bagged a duck against Sri Lanka.

AB is certainly under pressure to perform. As per the quotes in Indian Express, Virat Kohli empathized with AB saying he can relate to his situation. He further added that on a given day, AB can take the attack to the opposition and totally outplay the opposition.

“I actually empathise with him. I go through this a lot as well. When you have set standards for yourself and then people get shocked. You know, he’s by far the most committed cricketer I’ve ever seen around, and the reason for that was trying to do something extra for his team and that’s the kind of character he’s always been,” Kohli said.

“He can come out and when he’s in the right frame of mind and it’s his day and he’s in the mood, then it doesn’t matter what he’s done in the past games or how many runs he’s scored or not scored. If he decides to play the way only he can, you know you have to find a way to get him out pretty quickly,” added Kohli.

De Villiers overawed with remarks

When AB de Villiers was informed about what Virat Kohli had said about him, he felt overawed. He also expressed his respect for the Indian skipper. He hopes his team can get the wicket of Kohli cheaply in the big game.

“That’s nice of him. We’ve played together quite a few years at Bangalore. I respect him even more off the field. Just a good guy with a good heart. He just does it really well when he gets going. He can really hurt you, hurt your bowling attack and take the game away from you,” said de Villiers.