Virat Kohli celebrates his friendship with Bangalore team-mate ABD with a special message

Virat Kohli and Abraham Benjamin de Villiers' friendship dates back to the last decade i.e. supposedly 2011. That was the year when AB de Villiers was roped in by Bangalore for representing them in the IPL. Meanwhile Virat, on the other hand, has been associated with the franchise ever since the inception of the marquee tournament in 2008 and has been leading them from the 2013 edition. Lately, the batting megastar has come up with something special for his bestie ABD. 

'Sport is beautiful': Virat Kohli

Kohli had posted a picture of an IPL match where he and de Villiers are hugging each other after supposedly having taken their team over the line in a run-chase. The Indian skipper had captioned it as 'The most special thing about sport is the friendship and mutual respect you share with your teammates along your journey. Sport is beautiful'.

Virat & ABD's camaraderie

The 'Dynamic Duo' of Bangalore has destroyed all kinds of bowling attacks with their stellar batting performances and have also taken their team past the finish line on a few occasions as well. The batting icons had an outstanding year in the 2016 season where they helped Bangalore reach their third final. However, they ran out of steam in the tournament-decider against Hyderabad as the 'Orange Army' led by the gutsy David Warner ended up winning their maiden title. 

Bangalore in IPL 2020  

Coming back to the Dream11 IPL 2020, Virat Kohli has failed to make an impact with his bat so far as he has only managed 18 runs in three matches. Mr 360, on the other hand, has had a great time with the bat as he has scored a couple of half-centuries (against Hyderabad & Mumbai). The former Proteas captain has amassed 134 runs in three games.

The three-time runners-up have had a decent start to their campaign so far. They had got the better of their southern rivals Hyderabad in the season opener. By the virtue of that win, it was the first time since the 2016 edition that Virat Kohli & Co. ended up winning their first game of the tournament. However, they tasted a bitter defeat at the hands of Punjab by 97 runs in a one-sided contest three days later. 

Nonetheless, a determined Bangalore outfit overcame the title-holders Mumbai in a high-voltage Super Over on Monday as a result of which the multiple-time finalists who were reeling at the seventh position in the points table until then leapfrogged to the third spot. Skipper Kohli had hit the winning runs on the final ball of that Super Over when he pulled a delivery from his Indian team-mate Jasprit Bumrah to the leg-side boundary.

Bangalore will now be seen in action against Rajasthan at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

READ: IPL 2020: Bangalore Overcome Mumbai In A Nerve-wracking Super Over As Skipper Kohli Shines