There is no doubt that legendary South African cricketer AB de Villiers is a notable absentee for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
De Villiers played 184 matches in the cash-rich league, amassing 5162 runs at an average of 39.71 and a strike rate of 151.69. Prior to the start of this year’s tournament, the former Proteas skipper called time on his IPL career in November 2021.
De Villiers’ dear friend and former RCB skipper Virat Kohli has recalled an emotional story regarding the moment when De Villiers revealed that he wouldn’t be playing anymore. Kohli said he had received a voice note from the Pretoria-based cricketer and was shocked. The 33-year-old mentioned he even showed the voice note to his wife, Anushka Sharma, and she couldn’t believe it either.
“It’s very strange. I clearly remember when he decided to finally call it a day. He sent me a voice note. I still remember we were coming back after the World Cup from Dubai, and I got a voice note. And I opened it, and I listened to it. Anushka (Sharma) was with me, and I looked at her like this, and my face fell. She was like, ‘What?’ I showed her the message, I showed her the WhatsApp chat and the voice note from AB de Villiers. And the first thing she said was ‘Don’t tell me’. She knew,” said Kohli while speaking on RCB’s ‘Bold Diaries’.
Kohli said that De Villiers had given some hints regarding his decision earlier, but still, he got very emotional upon hearing the update.
“I was guessing it in the last IPL because he kept telling me, ‘I wanna see you for coffee one of these days’. I kept getting nervous, I thought there is something coming, and he said no man, there is nothing. He never speaks like that because we interact all the time. It was a strange feeling, I got very emotional, and the VO was very emotional when he said, ‘look, I don’t have it anymore in me.’ I have shared so many moments with him, the highs and lows, he has been right next to me,” Virat added.
