AB de Villiers Reveals The 4-Point Message He Sent To Virat Kohli Which Helped The Indian Captain Regain His Form Against England
Published - 16 Apr 2021, 05:35 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:44 AM
The two Royal Challengers Bangalore stalwarts, AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli have been intimate friends for a long time – the South African joined RCB in IPL 2011 and has been since their batting mainstay along with Kohli.
They have often heaped praises about each other, terming one another as the best batsman, and even while playing as opponents at the international arena, mutual respect between the two superstars has always been there.
So much that when the Indian captain suffered a slump in his form – two straight ducks – in the home matches against England, Kohli asked AB de Villiers for advice.
Kohli returned to form and revealed that the former Protea skipper had told him to “watch the ball” but he wasn’t more specific and clear as the fans would have hoped for. However, now AB de Villiers himself has revealed the specifics of the advice he gave to Kohli.
“I don’t want to say. It’s embarrassing. I think I mentioned four points. We spoke about couple of things away from the game and then also couple of technical things but it was very basic,” AB de Villiers said in a video posted on RCB’s official Twitter handle.
AB de Villiers shared the 4-point advice he gave to Virat Kohli
AB de Villiers says that he has been observing Kohli for a while then, and was promptly singled out the mistakes in his technique when his RCB skipper asked him for suggestions. He gave him 4 points regarding the technical and mental aspects of Kohli’s game.
After the consecutive ducks, Kohli smashed the England bowlers in the remaining matches. He batted like a dream since then. The right-hander bagged the Man of the Series award in the T20I series; he followed it up with a couple of fifties in the ODI series.
“I have been wanting to tell him for quite a while, I was watching him for a few months looking like he was quite intense — at the crease, with his whole game. So, I really wasn’t surprised when I saw the message and I knew immediately that all he needs to hear is the basic stuff.”
“Four points — see the ball, still head, allow the ball to come into your space, body language and attitude. And then we sort of elaborated around those four points,” revealed the South African.
Both the batters are re-united at the RCB for IPL 2021. The team has won its first two games and is flourishing with the additions of Glenn Maxwell and Kyle Jamieson in the side.
