“Form is temporary, class is permanent”: AB de Villiers calls Virat Kohli as greatest ever cricketer and backs him to return to form soon

Former South African batter AB de Villiers has called Virat Kohli one of the greatest ever and backs him to return to form soon.

The form of Virat Kohli has been discussed a lot in the last few months. Kohli has been going through the worst phase of his career, where he is just failing to score runs. Virat has an ODI average of 21.88 in 2022, whereas his T20 average has been 20.25. He has struggled in tests as well.

Kohli scored his last century in any format of the game in 2019 against Bangladesh. There are many experts who have questioned the spot of Virat in the side. However, he has gained some support as well, and his former RCB teammate AB de Villiers has also came in Virat’s support.

AB de Villiers calls Virat Kohli world-class

AB de Villiers has called Virat Kohli one of the greatest cricketers to ever play the game. He said that Virat remains a world-class player despite being out of form. AB insists that Virat needs none to tell him the importance of working hard, and he is assured that Virat will come back to form soon.

“Virat is one of the greatest cricketers ever to play the game. Form is temporary, class is permanent. Virat remains world-class. Virat and I remain in regular contact. We are friends, and he certainly does not need me to tell him the importance of working hard during a bad patch,” de Villiers told NDTV.

Virat and de Villiers have shared some great partnerships for RCB and both of them are considered legends of the franchise. AB announced his retirement ahead of IPL 2022, but he said that he will be around the RCB side in IPL 2023. He was recently drafted into the RCB Hall of Fame, and he is excited to receive the honour next season.

“I have been privileged to be associated with RCB for many years, and remain in close contact with the franchise. I am looking forward to being inducted into the RCB Hall of Fame at some stage during the 2023 IPL – that will be a great honour,” de Villiers added.

Also known as Mr 360, de Villiers has scored 4491 IPL runs for the RCB in 156 games. Overall, he has scored 5162 runs at an average of 31.60 in IPL.