AB De Villiers and Virat Kohli are known, to be quite great friends. The best batsmen, of their respective countries in their generation, both Kohli and AB gel along really nicely. Be it on the field or off the field, they have utmost respect for each other. The two amazing right handers are, playing for the same team in IPL which is Bangalore, since 2011.
The duo have combined to form, many match winning partnerships in IPL. Together, they have taken their team, to victory many a times in last 10 years. However, the only thing which they are missing is an IPL trophy. The ultimate silverware, for which the teams fight for close to a month and a half.
In the season 2016, Royal challengers Bangalore came closest, to lifting the trophy. Facing Sunrisers Hyderabad in the finals, they agonizingly lost a close game by 7 runs. While Virat scored some useful runs in the final, De Villiers failed as the match slipped, from the grasp of the Royal Challengers.
After that, the team went through some horrible seasons, as they finished last in two successive seasons. Both Kohli and De Villiers had miserable performances, with the bat collectively. Hence, the team failed to compete with others, and were reduced to mere punching bags, for other teams of the season.
Last year was a bit different for the Royals as, they finished fourth amongst the eight teams. They were knocked out of, the tournament by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the eliminator. Although, it was still far better result for the franchise considering their past records since 2017, where they failed to do anything substantial.
Will Kohli – AB magic continue?
This time however, Bangalore are determined to go few steps ahead, in comparison to last year. Like all teams, they have been preparing for the season 2021 since many days now. Virat Kohli joined the team a bit late owing, to the intense series in all three formats vs England, preluding the IPL.
Also, AB De Villiers has landed, in India just a day ago. But, the pair have no time to waste. They have already started, to train for the upcoming challenges which lies ahead. While Kohli is playing, cricket most of the times, AB De Villiers retired form international cricket, a long time ago. Since then, the brilliant batter from South Africa, only plays in various leagues around the world, most lucrative being the IPL.
Recently, Royal Challengers have uploaded a video, on their social media handle. In that, Kohli and AB De Villiers can be seen, practicing in the nets, simultaneously. They are going through the regular batting, and fielding drills as players watch them.
Needless to say, if Royal Challengers Bangalore are to give a, tough time to other teams in the tournament, the duo of Virat and AB, needs to fire in unison. Such is the talent in both these players is that, they can win the match from no where.
Watch the video of the net session of RCB here:
