AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli (Source – IPL/BCCI)
Legendary South African captain AB de Villiers responded to his recent ICC Hall of Fame induction and the heartwarming tribute penned by his close friend and former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate, Virat Kohli.
De Villiers, regarded as one of cricket’s most innovative batters, was recently inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame alongside England’s Alastair Cook and India’s Neetu David.
The recognition was a tribute to a career that saw him score 20,014 international runs across formats and was second only to Jacques Kallis among South African cricketers. In a video shared on his Instagram handle, De Villiers expressed his admiration for the tribute.
“I want to thank all of you for supporting me and obviously a big thanks to the ICC. It’s a great honor for me guys, thank you very much to the ICC, to all my fans out there, and to all the supporters over the years. I get very shy with these kinds of things, so that’s why I don’t go on about it too much. But yes, obviously it’s a very proud moment and it sort of reminds me of all the hard work that’s gone into getting to moments like this,” he said.
Want to be remembered as a guy who contributed to the team: AB de Villiers
The South African batting great, who retired from international cricket in 2018 had a batting average exceeding 50 in both Test and ODI formats. The former also appreciated Kohli’s kind words and revealed the depth of their friendship.
“It’s really special for me and obviously Virat as well, thank you very much for the kind words. What I’m really proud about is Virat speaking about me always putting the team first,” the South African added.
De Villiers emphasized that while records and numbers are important, they aren’t what he wants to be remembered for. He mentioned he wants to be remembered as a team man who always gave his 100% for his side.
“Always being prepared to do everything I can to have an impact on the team. And that’s how I want to be remembered, not by my stats or my records. I want to be remembered as a guy who contributed to the team and always put the team first. I’m very, very proud about that and I will not shy away from that. That’s certainly the way I played my cricket and it was always a priority to me,” De Villiers concluded.