Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have shared a special bond for a long time, being teammates in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore. They have spent a significant amount of time together, and Kohli once mentioned that their relationship extended beyond the cricket field when de Villiers announced his retirement in 2021. Now, the Proteas veteran has expressed confidence that Kohli will conclude the T20 phase of his career in the SA 20 League, anticipating a grand farewell for him from the South African cricketing community.
As per a recent interview with South African legend AB de Villiers, there is an expectation that Virat Kohli will conclude the final phase of his cricketing career in South Africa.
In an interaction with Hindustan Times, De Villiers said, “I think it would be very possible to get Virat over here. Maybe for his final season we’ll give him a wonderful farewell for the end of his career.”
However, the former batsman mentioned that he hasn’t officially spoken to Kohli yet but has had discussions with some other former Indian players. De Villiers said, “I haven’t discussed it with any players except for Robin Uthappa and R.P Singh. Not so long ago, we did some work together and I told them it would be great to see them over there.”
AB de Villiers is the face of the SA 20 league, a T20 tournament that he regards as the ‘second most popular league outside of the IPL.’ The league is relatively new, with only one season completed and the second season set to kick off on January 10. With ABD as its ambassador and former Proteas captain Graeme Smith as its commissioner, the league appears to be making positive strides.
Speaking about the learnings, SA 20 can take from the IPL, De Villiers said, “I feel it’s the second-most popular league outside of the IPL. I just felt it was an incredible excitement. Now what can we do better to make it more like the IPL? I just think more entertainment, more dancing, more screaming, more singing.”
