Virat Kohli says AB de Villiers is the best batsman after RCB's win

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli gave his final word on the raging debate over who is currently the best batsmen by claiming that South African AB De Villiers is the best batsmen in the world currently. An overjoyed Kohli heaped praise on the South African after the latter scripted a miraculous turnaround with an unbeaten 79 for Bangalore in the first qualifier played at Chinnaswamy Stadium against Gujarat Lions to book a place in the finals for RCB.

Chasing a formidable 159, the Royal Challengers were tottering at 29-5 as their famed batting line up caved in to some canny swing bowling by Lions pacer Dhawal Kulkarni when De Villiers stepped up and first built a crucial partnership with Stuart Binny to steady the ship, and then went berserk in the company of Iqbal Abdullah to see the side through with a 91 run unbeated stand.

Earlier, the law of averages finally caught up with RCB Captain Virat Kohli who was dismissed for a duck in the second over of the innings. It was his first duck in 51 innings.

Kohli, not shy to express his emotions, was visibly ecstatic after the victory as he ran on to the field to embrace De Villiers. He admitted in the post match presentation that the match looked like a lost cause at one point. "Unbelievable, can't believe I'm the winning captain," Kohli said. He went on to add, "That should end a lot of debates as to who is the best going around. No question about it. Come the big game, the big man stands up. I just bow down to him. That was probably one of the best knocks under pressure I've seen.”

While the Proteas skipper has been hailed as the best batsmen of the current generation by many in the last few years owing to his outrageous stroke making ability and adaptability in all three formats, Kohli’s meteoric rise in limited overs and his sensational run of form in 2016 had started a debate among fans and experts about who holds the numero uno position among the two.

The fans have also gone on to compare the two to Messi and Ronaldo, the two phenomenon in the world of football who have divided fans and experts alike in the last few years.While Ronaldo and Messi have never played for the same club, the Royal Challengers Bangalore have reaped great benefits by bringing the two wonders of modern day Cricket together. In the 2016 edition, although overshadowed by Kohli’s dream run, who has accumulated 919 runs in 15 matches, AB De Villiers too has amassed 682 runs at a strike rate of 170.

No batsman who has scored at least 250 runs has a strike rate higher than that of De Villiers. Riding on the back of their superlative performances, RCB have managed to climb from the bottom of the points table to become the first team to enter the finals of the 2016 edition of Indian Premier League.