AB de Villiers on Virat Kohli: ‘You do not become a bad player overnight’

Former South Africa and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter AB de Villiers has come to Virat Kohli’s rescue over the latter’s below-par performances with the bat in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The South African legend, nicknamed ‘Mr 360’, said that a batter of Kohli’s stature does not become a “bad player overnight”, and backed his former teammate to bounce back soon.

Kohli has been going through an extended lean patch, with the former India and RCB captain not having scored a century in competitive cricket for two-and-a-half years now. He has been particularly out of touch this IPL season, scoring 186 runs in 10 outings at an average of 20.67.

“As a batsman you are only one or two bad knocks away from bad form. If it keeps coming at you it is difficult to bounce back from it.

“You do not become a bad player overnight. Virat would know it and I know it. I think it’s the way you think and set your mind,” De Villiers told news agency AFP.

De Villiers, who scored 3,403 runs in 184 matches in the IPL, says he has not been in touch with Kohli, but says the struggle becomes largely one of the mind.

All-time leading IPL run-scorer Kohli had hit his lowest point with back-to-back golden ducks against Lucknow Super Giants and Sunrisers Hyderabad respectively, and was dismissed for 9 in the game against Rajasthan Royals.

A half-century against the Gujarat Titans though, relieved some of the pressure for the star batter, even if Kohli did score at a relatively slow pace (strike rate: 109.43).

Kohli scored 58 off 53 deliveries, his first fifty of the season, and forged a 99-run stand with Rajat Patidar to help RCB post 170/6 on the board, which would later be chased down rather easily by the Gujarat Titans.

With inputs from AFP

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