Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and South African national cricket team star batsman, AB de Villiers, has given a big hint about the comeback of modern-day batting legend Virat Kohli to cricket action.
Kohli’s last appearance in competitive cricket was a T20I match against the Afghanistan National Cricket Team on January 17, 2024, where he scored a duck. Since then, he has been absent from competitive cricket. Kohli opted out of India’s squad for the first two Tests against the England National Cricket Team but was anticipated to return for the later matches in the series.
However, Kohli did not make himself available for the last three Tests either. The reason for his absence from cricket was initially disclosed by his close friend AB de Villiers, and later Kohli himself revealed the reason for taking a break from his favorite format of the game.
AB de Villiers Gave A Big Update On Virat Kohli’s Return
Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma shared the joyous news of welcoming their baby boy, named Akaay, on February 20 through their social media accounts. Kohli’s absence from the Test series against England was due to the birth of their second child. However, legendary batsman Sunil Gavaskar expressed uncertainty about Kohli’s participation 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.
Meanwhile, AB de Villiers addressed Sunil Gavaskar’s doubts about Virat Kohli’s IPL 2024 participation on his YouTube channel. De Villiers hinted at Kohli’s return by mentioning that Kohli invited him to spend time in Bengaluru, implying that the former RCB skipper intends to make his comeback through the 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.”
The IPL 2024 will start on March 22, with defending champions Chennai Super Kings facing Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening match in Chennai.
