Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli hailed teammate AB de Villiers after the South African’s Man of the Match performance against the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday. The Bangalore-based franchise won the match by 45 runs.
Kohli and de Villiers are considered by many to be the two batsmen in the world currently and they showed why as they put on a 157-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. De Villiers was the dominant partner as he scored a 42-ball 82 while Kohli added 75 from 51 deliveries.
When asked about batting alongside de Villiers, Kohli said: "It's always wonderful."
He further added added that the Proteas Test and ODI skipper played an important role by taking the pressure off him early on during his innings.
"He (de Villiers) took a bit of pressure off me there. I wanted to get off the blocks (fast), but he came in and started hitting the ball like only he can, and showed why he is the best batsman of this generation," the Indian Test captain said.
The duo had also put on a brilliant 215-run stand against the Mumbai Indians last year, with de Villiers scoring a century in the match. RCB seem to have found the right balance in their batting order with Chris Gayle and Kohli opening the innings and de Villiers slotted in at number three.
After RCB bought Shane Watson at the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, many observers thought that the Australian will open the batting, but the think-tank of the team in Red and Black had other ideas.
Despite a mediocre international T20 record, de Villiers had shone in the IPL over the years. He has scored 2652 runs from 105 matches at an average of 37.35 and strike rate of 146.03.
The Royal Challengers next face the Delhi Daredevils on Sunday.
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