South Africa's AB de Villiers is remembered as one of the modern day greats especially in the white-ball cricket, be it ODIs or T20Is. If it's IPL or his own national side, De Villiers was a joy to watch. (More Cricket News)
In the Indian Premier League, ABD's batting partner was none other than star player Virat Kohli, who were friends on the field as well as off it.
De Villiers explained that despite their personalities clashed on the fiedl, they knew how to make it work when together.
"I absolutely loved batting with Hashim Amla for the Proteas. I think we got some incredible partnerships together. In T20 cricket and IPL, definitely Virat. Our personalities and our way of playing clashed a little bit. We were both very intense. Both wanted to take the game away from the opposition immediately, which sounds like the dream partnership," he said in a Q&A session on YouTube.
"Sometimes it clashes, but Virat and I know each other so well, we managed to find a way to make it work because we understand each other's game so well. I know him so well off the field, we found a way to make that clash of personalities...," De Villiers added.
AB de Villiers and Kohli shared a bond that was beyond cricket. The two batters always batted that left the opposition bowlers thinking what to do next.
"Sometimes, we would go too hard. He would get out, I would get out and all of a sudden RCB would be 30/3. Virat and I were fifth-sixth gear all the way guys, which paid off sometimes. In the IPL, I can think of that 200 partnership in Mumbai. At the Chinnaswamy, another 200 partnership. We always played for the team and nothing else mattered," the former South Africa captain explained.
