Rohit Sharma namedropped as AB de Villiers gives bizarre 'less pressure' reason behind Virat Kohli's poor form in T20 World Cup

Former South Africa skipper AB de Villiers has shared his views on Virat Kohli's dismal campaign with the bat in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

While Team India have been flying high and have stormed into the semifinals of the tournament, Virat Kohli has looked like a pale shadow of his usual self. In fact, he is currently the only weak link in an otherwise very settled Indian team. The former India skipper managed to score only 5 runs in the group stage.

He started his campaign with a 1-run knock against Ireland before being out for 4 against Pakistan. In the third game against the USA, Virat Kohli could not even open his account. In the Super 8s, the right-handed batsman got the start in the first two games but could not convert them into big scores and was out for 24 and 37 against Afghanistan and Bangladesh respectively.

In the third Super 8 game against Australia, the batting superstar endured another forgettable outing. He registered his second duck of the tournament as Josh Hazlewood sent him back cheaply.

AB de Villiers on Virat Kohli's form:

Virat Kohli's form will be a big concern for Team India ahead of the semifinal clash. The fans sound worried too as one of them asked AB de Villiers about Virat Kohli's form while the former South Africa batter was interacting with them through YouTube.

The fan urged AB de Villiers to motivate his former IPL teammate to get back to form. In reply, AB de Villiers assured the fans that Kohli would bounce back. He also made an interesting point, saying that Kohli is playing with less pressure now because of a strong batting order. De Villiers also found it tough to point out the exact reason behind Kohli's poor form but backed him to bounce back.

"Virat will be there, don't you worry. He's now playing with a little bit of less pressure, having seen Rohit in good form and a fantastic batting order under him. Virat can just go and watch the ball and play. I am not sure what's happening with his form at the end of the day," said AB de Villiers.

"Cricket can be a fickle sport. It's up and down, it's a rollercoaster ride sometimes. And when you are down but you playing with this (pointing at his heart), sometimes you're most dangerous. I believe Virat's got a lot of this - heart, guts, fighting spirit, courage. So when it matters the most, these are the kind of guys you want in your team. So I am expecting fireworks from him and definitely favouring Team India to go on to win," he added.

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