2017 ICC Champions Trophy: Virat Kohli Has Found His Best Form In This Tournament: AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers, South Africa One-Day International, has heaped lavish praise on his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli ahead of the Champions Trophy final where India will lock horns against Pakistan on Sunday (June 18).

De Villiers has played the last six seasons of Indian Premier League alongside Virat Kohli for Royal Challengers Bangalore and said he is privileged to be the India batting star’s teammate. At the same time, de Villiers also revealed how Virat Kohli is on and off the field.

“I have been privileged to play alongside him in the last six Indian Premier League tournaments and, as his team-mate at Royal Challengers Bangalore, have seen at first hand not only his extraordinary skill as a batsman but also the energy and intensity that he brings to the game. He is a consummate surgeon at the crease, intensely focussed, working hard, playing the ball into gaps in the field and staying calm under pressure. He is always judging the right time to consolidate and the right time to seize a game by the scruff of the neck,” de Villiers wrote in his column for the BBC.

The Protea star further wrote that Kohli has hit the top gear in the ongoing tournament. The free-scoring batsman had walked into the tournament on the back of some poor outings in the Border-Gavaskar series and the Indian Premier League. He had managed only 46 runs in the Test series against Australia before experiencing a disastrous IPL where his team finished last and he scored only 308 runs. However, he has got back to his best in the Champions Trophy, scoring three big half-centuries in 4 matches to amass 253 runs.

“He has found his best form in this tournament, scoring an unbeaten 81 in India’s opening win over Pakistan, adding an unbeaten 76 in the do-or-die victory over South Africa, and compiling a clinical and commanding 96 not out in the semi-final victory over Bangladesh,” de Villiers wrote.

Giving a insight into Virat Kohli’s training methods, de Villiers further wrote:“He is determined and relentless in training, remaining in the nets as long as necessary to ensure he feels comfortable with every aspect of his game. I have watched him rehearse his strokes over and over again until sweat is pouring from his brow, never stopping until he is satisfied.”

De Villiers said that Kohli has got a measure of the unrealistic demands and any failure only spur him to work harder than ever.

“Virat has learned to live with these realities… and also to accept the burden of unrealistic expectation that he should score runs every time he reaches the crease, and that his team should win every time they take the field. When things don’t go well – and, unfortunately, for Virat as for anyone else, things don’t always go well – he falls back on his intense commitment and works ever harder until he turns the corner and meets the excessively high expectations,” de Villiers said.

Kohli would really like to make the most of his current form. In his first ICC tournament as the captain, the 28-year old has led the Men in Blue to the final where they will be taking on arch-rivals Pakistan. India had defeated Pakistan quite comfortably during the group stage but given the Men in Green’s lat resurgence, Virat Kohli & Co. will have their task cut out on Sunday.