He has a beautiful heart - AB de Villiers praises “softy” Virat Kohli’s persona

RCB Hall of Famer AB de Villiers had a lot of praise for Virat Kohli’s persona, referring to the latter as a “softy” off the field when compared to his relatively aggressive nature on the field. 

Kohli’s aggression on the field, be it with the bat or on the field with his celebrations has manifested into quite some inspiration for the younger generation of upcoming cricketers.

Speaking in a special episode called ‘Kohli 500 not out..’, ABD, on his YouTube channel, spoke about how much he adores the former RCB captain’s persona. He said, “I have a lot of respect for Virat's human side. He has a beautiful heart, and I can call myself lucky to have witnessed that firsthand. Not a lot of people get the opportunity, not only to see this emotional, fighter of a guy on the field, but he is actually quite a softy off the field."

De Villiers also narrated a story about Kohli’s gestures towards youngsters, when he once gave tips to 7-8 Sunrisers Hyderabad youngsters who wanted to pick the India legend’s brains after a match in the IPL. 

The former RCB batter said, "It was in Sharjah, and we were playing the Sunrisers Hyderabad. We had a good win. But after the game, there were literally six or seven players from the Sunrisers team around Virat Kohli.”

He added, “He was giving them a coaching lesson, talking about batting, about life, about the challenges, the pressure of the game, and technique. They covered everything. I was just standing on the side there watching this happen and unfold right in front of my eyes. That is the beauty of the IPL."