AB de Villiers, former South African cricketer, revealed that his initial dislike for Virat Kohli transformed into a close friendship after they became teammates at Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The revelation came following Kohli’s announcement of retirement from Test cricket on May 12, 2025, concluding his 14-year career that began in 2011.De Villiers explained that their similar competitive nature initially created a barrier between them when they played as opponents.“Virat is like one of my cricketing brothers, someone I really grew fond of when I got to know him better. He’s an absolute pain to play against, so before I knew him I didn’t really like him a lot because he was so good and so competitive, very similar to me with that competitive nature,” De Villiers said.De Villiers further elaborated on their competitive nature and how it affected their relationship on the field.Quiz: Who’s that IPL player?“We really like winning and we like to pull our weight within the team environment and if anything threatens that it usually brings out aggressive body language and one that will attack back and that’s exactly what Virat was like playing against,” de Villiers said.Their relationship evolved significantly after becoming teammates at RCB.
“Then I got to know him at RCB, I got to know him a lot better. We became family friends, became brothers and also became great partners at the wicket when we played together, really understood each other out there and I probably enjoyed every second of playing with him,” De Villiers added.De Villiers joined RCB in 2011 after his stint with Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and played for the franchise for 11 seasons until his retirement after the 2021 IPL season.The partnership between Kohli and De Villiers proved to be one of the most successful in IPL history. They hold the record for the highest runs scored as a pair, accumulating 3,123 runs from 76 matches, including 10 century partnerships.
