Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers recently made a huge revelation that his Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate Virat Kohli ignored him for several months for his huge mistake.
The cricketer-turned-YouTuber said he made a blunder by sharing the news of Anushka Sharma’s pregnancy during a live broadcast while taking questions regarding Kohli. The incident dates back to last year when Kohli skipped the Test series against England at home to be with Anushka for the birth of his second child, Akaay.
De Villiers and Kohli were recently seen celebrating together as RCB ended their 18-year-long trophy drought by defeating the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the IPL 2025 final.
The Proteas legend told cricket.com (via NDTV):
“I know we were in the same boat because we spoke about it. He's been in touch with me over the last six months. Thank goodness! Because I did have a bit of a footfall not too long ago when they were expecting their second child. So, I was very relieved when he started talking to me again.”
Notably, Virat Kohli and de Villiers have together played for RCB for over 10 years.
“The decision comes from the heart” – AB de Villiers on Virat Kohli’s Test retirement
AB de Villiers further weighed in on what could be the prime reason behind Virat Kohli stepping down from Test cricket. He said in the same interaction:
“We all know he went through a bit of a patch and sort of wanted to bounce a few ideas off me. How did I get through certain moments of my life. So, I knew what kind of phase he was going through, considering his age and how many games he's played, and the dynamics of being in the team all the time, the politics thereof as well.”
“There are a lot of things weigh in on you, and so I shared with him from the heart what I felt and what I thought watching him on the screen. I'm happy he is still around playing cricket and that decision comes from the heart and I support him 100 per cent with that,” he added.
Virat Kohli’s decision came as a shock as he had a good chance to complete 10,000 runs in Test cricket. The 36-year-old finished with 9,230 runs in 123 Tests at an average of 46.85 with the help of 30 tons and 31 half-centuries.
Kohli will now only be seen in ODIs since he retired from T20Is after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup with the Men in Blue. Team India’s next ODI assignment is a three-match 50-over series in Bangladesh in August.
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