Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter AB de Villiers said that Virat Kohli’s captaincy has inspired him to become a better player.
RCB suffered a four-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Eliminator match of the Indian Premier League (IPL), 2021 on Monday. In a video posted by the team on Twitter on Tuesday, Villiers shared his experiences of being under the captaincy of Kohli.
“I have been here through all the years with Virat as captain and I think the word that comes to mind is ‘grateful’. We were very lucky to have had you at the front. I am really grateful about you (Kohli) as a leader,” said the South African batter.
“The way you have captained this team has inspired everyone, certainly inspired me to become better as a player and a person. You have had a much bigger impact than you will ever understand, it has gone miles. There are stories that you don’t even hear of people’s lives that you have touched,” he added.
Virat Kohli’s journey as skipper of the franchise came to an end on Monday after losing the knock-out game against KKR. When the UAE leg of the IPL 2021 resumed, Kohli went on to announce that he would step down as the skipper of the franchise after the ongoing edition.
Kohli had become the regular captain at Royal Challengers in 2013 and he has been a part of the franchise as a player since the inception of the IPL in 2008.
Under Virat Kohli, RCB had reached the finals of IPL in 2016 and it was in the same edition that Kohli registered the most number of runs by a batter in a single season.
After bowing out of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pacer Mohammed Siraj on Tuesday said that the franchise will come back stronger next year.
“A big Thank you to the RCB fans all over the world , not the result we wanted to end with but we will come back even more stronger than before. It was great season with ups and downs and you guys always stood with us irrespective of result. Once again thank you very much,” tweeted Siraj. Virat Kohli’s journey as skipper in the IPL came to an end on Monday as RCB suffered a four-wicket loss against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Eliminator. Sunil Narine’s four-wicket haul and 26-run knock helped KKR defeat RCB.
When the UAE leg of the IPL 2021 resumed, Kohli went on to announce that he would step down as the skipper of the franchise after the ongoing edition. Kohli had become the regular captain at Royal Challengers in 2013 and he has been a part of the franchise as a player since the inception of the IPL in 2008.
However, after that RCB found the going tough and the side failed to reach the playoffs in three consecutive years and the jinx was finally broken in 2020. In the 140 matches he captained in IPL, Kohli won 66 and lost 70 while four were no results.
Kohli will also step down as Team India’s T20I captain after the upcoming T20 World Cup.