'AB de Villiers found out what Virat Kohli did and went up to him and said 'That's not on'

Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have been great friends for more than a decade after playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. Kohli and ABD have been RCB's stalwarts and match-winners on several occasions and they might be the most iconic players in their history so far. While their off-field friendship is well-known, their on-field chemistry is equally iconic. Kohli and de Villiers have stitched together several partnerships for RCB and that is why they are always remembered as RCB's greatest. 

3 things you need to know

• Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have been great friends for more than a decade 
• While their off-field friendship is well-known, their on-field chemistry is equally iconic
• But they had a tense moment when SA toured India in maybe 2015

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When ABD lost his cool with Virat Kohli

However, there was a moment in their career when AB de Villiers had to confront former India captain Virat Kohli over his aggressive behavior on the field. It might be around the South Africa's tour of India in 2015, when as revealed by Dean Elgar that Kohli spat on him. ABD got to know of the incident and wasn't happy with the scenario. De Villiers went up to Kohli and said that he shouldn't do that again with his South African teammate. Here's the whole story of the incident. 

"In India...Those wickets were jokes." "And I came into bat and I was actually like holding my own against Ashwin and what's his name Jajeja… ja-ja-jajeja, ('Jadeja', said someone in the background) and Kohli, he like spat at me," Elgar said on the Banter with The Boys podcast.

"I said to him, 'if you do that, I'll f*****g *** you with this bat'," Elgar claimed.

"Did he understand that word?" asked the podcast host referring to the beeped out word.

"Yes, he did because (AB) de Villiers was his teammate at RCB so he understood. I said 'if you do that, I'll absolutely knock you out'," Elgar claimed.

The former South African opener said after de Villiers found out about the incident, he took up the matter with his good friend and RCB teammate. Elgar did not specify when exactly de Villiers discussed the incident with Kohli.

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‘Why are you spitting at my teammate’: ABD to Kohli

"Anyway, so, realised that de Villiers found out what he did and went up to him and said 'bud, why are you spitting at my teammate bud? That's not on' and two years later, he (Kohli) calls me aside playing (in) South Africa and said 'can we go have a drink at the end of the series?" "'I want to just apologise for my actions'. Two years later in South Africa, he says he wants to apologise for what he did. We had a drink, (the) punchline is we drank till 3 am in the morning. This is when he used to drink, now he is obviously converted a bit," Elgar added.

The water is under the bridge now as Kohli gave a respectful send-off to Dean Elgar in his final Test match in January 2024. Even Elgar appreciated the gesture from Kohli and described the moment as awesome. And Kohli and AB de Villiers have continued their friendship as both cricketers are always seen sharing complementary opinions on each other. 

(with PTI inputs)