Virat Kohli's return date revealed? AB de Villiers drops huge update

Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and South Africa National Cricket Team star batsman, AB de Villiers, has provided a huge clue on the return of modern-day batting great Virat Kohli to action.

Kohli was last seen in action in competitive cricket when he bagged a duck in a T20I match against the Afghanistan National Cricket Team at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on January 17, 2024.

Since then he has been out of competitive cricket. Kohli withdrew his name from India’s squad for the first two Tests of the five-match series against England National Cricket Team and was expected to return for the remainder of the series.

However, he didn’t make himself available for the last three Tests as well. The reason behind Kohli’s absence from cricket was originally revealed by his best friend AB de Villiers and later the batter himself revealed the reason behind taking a long from his favourite format of cricket.

Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma took to social media platforms on February 20 to announce that they have been blessed with a baby boy, whom they named Akaay.

As Virat Kohli missed the Test series against England National Cricket Team due to the birth of his second child, legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar expressed his doubts over the participation of the batsman in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

“Kya woh khelenge… kuch reason ke liye khel nahi rahe hain, shaayad ho sakta hai ki IPL ki liye bhi na khelein (Will he play? He is not playing because of some reason, perhaps he may not play in IPL as well,” Gavaskar said during a Star Sports Event at the Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi last month.

Virat Kohli has hinted that he might want me to come over – AB de Villiers

Speaking on his YouTube channel, the legendary Proteas batsman AB de Villiers quashed Gavaskar’s remark and gave a hint about Kohli’s return while answering whether he plans to return to Bengaluru to support the RCB franchise. De Villiers stated that Kohli has invited him to spend some time with him in Bengaluru, which gives a clear hint that the former RCB skipper is planning to make his comeback through IPL 2024.

“Nothing is confirmed yet,” de Villiers said about his return to RCB. “Virat Kohli has hinted that he might want me to come over just to spend a bit of time with him and some of the batter perhaps. I think the call has got to come from Andy Flower, Faf and the team. But for now, I am just going to be in Mumbai for the first few weeks of the IPL and doing a bit of commentary so do watch our live streams. I will also be back at the backend for the knockouts.”

Virat Kohli had a terrific run with the bat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 as he slammed 639 runs in 14 matches at an astonishing average of 53.25 and a strike rate of 139.82. He also hit 2 hundreds and 6 fifties in the 2023 edition of the competition.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 is set to begin on March 22 and the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will lock horns with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Chennai in the opening clash.