The former RCB captain and one of the closest friends of AB De Villiers, Virat Kohli, has come up with a very emotional twitter post after the South African veteran announced his retirement from all professional cricket earlier today.
Kohli wrote that he is heartbroken by the announcement, but he also acknowledged that De Villiers has made a decision that is in the best interests of him as well as his family.
After his international retirement, IPL was the only tournament where AB de Villiers was playing, and it might have been getting increasingly difficult for him to not play any cricket throughout the year and then walk into a high-profile tournament like IPL.
De Villiers, though, despite not playing international cricket, was one of the most successful batsmen of RCB in the last 3 years. However, in the second leg of IPL 2021, he seemed to start finding it hard just a little bit and it was from there that some people started speculating he might retire soon.
But even after his recent struggles, nobody anticipated the retirement so soon. De Villiers might have been selfless with his decision and might have stepped away thinking that this might now be an opportunity for RCB to start from the scratch and build a completely new team in the mega auction.
This hurts my heart, but I know you have made the best decision: Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli, while paying tribute to De Villiers, also thanked him for his services to RCB, for the legacy that he built at the franchise and for the joy that he gave to the fanbase for a number of years. Virat ended his emotional tribute by telling ABD that he loves him.
This hurts my heart but I know you've made the best decision for yourself and your family like you've always done. 💔I love you 💔 @ABdeVilliers17
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 19, 2021
While AB de Villiers retired without winning an IPL trophy with RCB, he is still considered the greatest overseas player to ever grace the league and probably one of the greatest to ever grace the game of cricket altogether.
