He's got the best instinct of any player - AB de Villiers on Virat Kohli's role for IPL 2025

As RCB prep for IPL 2025, speculations are through the roof about their opening combination, but RCB Hall of Famer AB de Villiers believes that partnering Virat Kohli and Phil Salt at the top of the order is the right approach.

Talking to the JioStar Press Room, De Villiers said, “Virat seems to be enjoying his cricket. I don't think he's going to have to up his strike rate batting with Phil Salt. Salt is one of the most attacking players we've ever seen. I think he's going to take a lot of pressure off Virat. Virat needs to continue what he's been doing for so many years...control the game, play smart cricket. He's got the best instinct of any player out there. He knows when to up the ante a bit and when to lower it."

Sharing a crucial message for Virat, De Villiers said, “Virat needs to be the captain of the batting department in this tournament and really just keep things together, play smart cricket to make sure they don't find those collapses in the batting order."

Adding further, ABD stated, “There's no doubt some of the outside noise has maybe influenced him a bit. He's only human, he's definitely got those doubts in his head. But the one thing about Virat is that he's always had the ability to, when it matters most, when he crosses that line for his team, block everything out and it's business time.”