AB de Villiers was in awe of Virat Kohli after the latter played a match-winning hand for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match on Monday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Kohli scored 77 runs off 49 balls with 11 fours and 2 sixes as RCB beat the Kings by 4 wickets to open their account in this campaign. He also equalled MS Dhoni's tally (17) of Player of the Match awards in the IPL. "I saw some signs on the field while they were there in the first half. Just real dedication, commitment, and motivation I could see in his eyes. This guy means business tonight and no one is going to stand in his way," De Villiers said on Jio Cinema.

'Virat Kohli kept it together'

However, De Villiers said that Kohli would be somewhat gutted for not being able to finish off the game. With RCB needing 47 runs off their last 4 overs, he got out to Harshal Patel while trying to play a lofted shot. Harpreet Brar took the catch at third-man to put an end to Kohli's stay in the middle. "Unfortunately, he didn't finish it at the back end as he would have wanted to. Knowing him, he'll be analysing tonight in his room. Like, 'why didn't I finish that game?' Very hard on himself? Sometimes. He is just an amazing player. He's played fantastically well tonight. He kept it together, kept himself in the game, and well played the right shots. He really did. And it wasn't just big shots," de Villiers added. After Kohli got out, Mahipal Lomror, the Impact Sub for RCB, and Dinesh Karthik took the responsibility of taking their team past the finish line. Karthik's unbeaten 28-run knock guided RCB to victory in the close encounter in Bengaluru.