2017 ICC Champions Trophy: Will Like To Unsettle Competitive Virat Kohli – AB de Villiers

Nov 2, 2023 at 3:43 PM

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2017 ICC Champions Trophy: Will Like To Unsettle Competitive Virat Kohli – AB de Villiers

South Africa skipper AB de Villiers, ahead of the game against India  – which is a virtual quarter-final for both the teams – has heaped praise on Indian skipper Virat Kohli and has said that the team would like to unsettle competitive Virat Kohli, whom he termed as a world-class player,

“My take on him (Kohli) is quite simple, really. He’s a world-class player. I know him really well. We’ve played together quite a few years at Bangalore. I respect him even more off the field. Just a good guy with a good heart. I love the way he plays cricket,” one of the modern day greats was grace personified during his praise of a contemporary. He is very competitive. He always likes to come out on top. That’s the kind of approach that I also have with my cricket. I like to compete and try and contribute in order for the team to win. He is a top-class player. He is difficult to stop when he gets going,” de Villiers said while addressing the media a day ahead of the game.

Many of the cricket experts were surprised with Ravichandran Ashwin not being included in the playing XI against Sri Lanka, despite a number of left-handed batsmen in their line-up. De Villiers though showed hopes of Ashwin being coming in the side, due to the same factor,

“It depends on the conditions, really. I will be expecting to see him in the team tomorrow, so we are preparing to see him on the side. If it doesn’t happen, then so be it. “I can’t say if we prefer playing against him or not. He is a great bowler. He has taken many wickets in the past and he has had success against us as well, in India. But that’s up for them to decide. If he is on the team, we will try our best to play well against him.”

Talking of his captaincy, it has been a bittersweet for De Villiers as from the past few months, after skipping Test series against Australia and New Zealand, De Villiers decided to hand over the captaincy to Faf du Plessis. Along with that, he has also withdrawn from the Test series against England. Now questions being raised over his captaincy are obvious due to the rise of Test skipper Du Plessis. But he played down any chances of his captaincy being at risk if they lose this crunch game against India,
“I think my captaincy has been pretty good. I have thoroughly enjoyed every second out there. Lost the last game (vs Pakistan), so that’s never ideal for a captain. I understand what I am trying to do out there. I am really enjoying the captaincy. I think I make some good calls.”
Meanwhile, the skipper has been declared fit for the eventual quarter-final against India to be played on June 11 at The Oval. The winner will go on to face one of the teams from Group A in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy.
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