Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers made one of the best batting pairs in the history of the Indian Premier League. When both of them were at their absolute best, it was a nightmare for the bowlers, whereas it was a treat for the spectators.
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Kohli and de Villiers played together for Royal Challengers Bangalore between 2011-2021. Whenever RCB used to be in trouble, both of them played some out-of-the-world knocks to register numerous outrageous victories for their side in the biggest T20 League around the world.
At the peak of their powers, Kohli and de Villiers were no less than superheroes. While they would save Bangalore like preternatural beings, they used to punish the opposition’s bowlers in the process. Universe Boss Chris Gayle, who arguably formed the best top-order in the IPL at Royal Challengers, once compared the former Indian and South African captains to two DC superheroes.
When Chris Gayle Compared RCB Pair Of Virat Kohli And AB de Villiers To Superheroes
Even though RCB could not win IPL 2016 final against Sunrisers Hyderabad, it was certainly a memorable season for them. Kohli broke all sorts of batting records to register a career-best season. In one of the matches, RCB defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 9 wickets with both Kohli and de Villiers scoring individual half-centuries.
In an interaction with the reports after the match, Gayle compared the pair to Superman and Batman. Since de Villiers is often called Superman, the former West Indian captain must have related Kohli to Batman.
“Those two guys are playing like ‘Batman and Superman’. They are in the form of their lives, especially [Virat] Kohli. They should continue pressing the gas, don’t ease up and fill their boots with as much runs as possible.”
Talking about the match, Kolkata had scored 183/5 in the first innings courtesy of half-centuries from the duo of Gautam Gambhir and Manish Pandey. Bangalore won the match in just 18.4 overs where Kohli and de Villiers stitched an unbeaten 115-run second-wicket partnership.
Kohli was the highest run-scorer of IPL 2016, whereas de Villiers was at the third position in the list. The former RCB captain scored 973 runs at an average and strike rate of 81.08 and 152.03 respectively. He scored four centuries and seven half-centuries throughout the campaign. On the contrary, de Villiers’ 687 runs had come at an average of 52.84 and a strike rate of 168.79 with the help of one century and half-century each.
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers Partnership Records In the IPL
Kohli and de Villiers’ pairing have added the most runs together in IPL history. They have scored 3,123 runs across 76 innings including 10 century partnerships in the competition.
229 runs against Gujarat Lions and 215* against Mumbai Indians, the two highest IPL partnerships, are under the name of Kohli and de Villiers only.
