The sight of watching Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers piecing together a valuable partnership, has been one of the major highlights of the Indian Premier League over the years.
The two batsmen, considered to be the best among the current generation, have enjoyed a fruitful partnership at Royal Challengers Bangalore. In 2016, the pair notched up as many as five 100-plus stands between them. It was a season when the Kohli-de Villiers show was at its peak. The team had gone all the way to the final where they lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Much of RCB’s success that year was down to the consistent performance of the two star batsmen. Last year, though, the two did not quite come good with each other. There were a few individual knocks that caught the eye, but nothing special.
On Saturday, the Kohli-De Villiers show was back in town after its brief hiatus. The star batsmen scored impressive half-centuries as they amassed 118 runs for the third wicket to lead RCB to a five-wicket win over Delhi Daredevils and keep their hopes of securing a play-off berth alive.
RCB went into the game needing a win in all their remaining four matches to stay in the hunt for a top-four finish. Delhi, though, were in no mood to make it easy for them and posted an imposing total of 181/4.
“In the mid-innings break AB told me ‘don’t worry, we’ll get this’, and that helped me get in the zone,” Kohli said after the match. Not just Kohli, de Villiers too got into his zone.
Kohli scored 70 runs in 40 balls, while De Villiers remained unbeaten on 72 runs off 37 deliveries to take RCB home.
With the side tottering at 18/2, RCB’s hopes of success were tied to the performance of the star duo. The pair did not disappoint.
Batting out the opposition
Kohli took the lead early on as he conjured up jaw-dropping boundaries through the gaps, the way only he can. De Villiers let his skipper lead the charge, but soon got into his groove. Other than debutant Sandeep Lamichhane, no other bowler was spared. Kohli smashed seven boundaries and three sixes, while de Villiers found the boundary four times and sent the ball over it on six occasions.
With quick running between the wicket interspersed with timely boundaries, the pair shut out Delhi in the middle overs. From 18/2 the duo took RCB to 136 before Kohli perished trying to smash another big hit and keep pace with the run-rate.
If it was Kohli who led the way, de Villiers was going to be the man who would finish the job. He batted on even as wickets fell around him and, it seemed, he was never going to let it slip. He even showed off his ‘Spiderman’ shot, jumping outside off and then going down on one knee and slogging the ball over deep mid-wicket off Trent Boult.
Mutual admiration society
Kohli was effusive in his praise of his long-time RCB team-mate. “I don’t need to say much, been an honour for me to bat with him,” the India captain said after the match.
The respect is clearly mutual. De Villiers would also thank his captain for his support from the other end.
Joint interviews between the two reveal a camaraderie, not easily prevalent in modern day cricket. A recent interaction with comedy group AIB revealed the extent to which the mutual respect had grown.
De Villiers spoke of how his South African team-mates were cross with Kohli due to his competitive streak. “I tried to convince my South Africa team-mates he’s a nice bloke off the field, but they are like, no, stop coming up for him, he’s an idiot,” quipped de Villiers in that chat.
The slow start to the IPL season has cost RCB dearly in this edition but with 466 runs, Kohli is by far one of the most consistent batsmen in the tournament. So far, an ingredient that has been missing from their batting has been another consistent performer who could complement the India captain. Expectations were that de Villiers would play that role, but a combination of inconsistency and illness has meant that the batsman could not always keep pace with the Indian star.
With just three games remaining in the group stages, there is still scope for RCB to make this a successful season. With the first 100-plus stand already under their belt, the fans will expect Kohli and de Villiers to deliver an encore. And that is good news for the neutrals as well.