‘You’ve changed the way IPL is played’: Virat Kohli heaps praise on RCB Hall of Famers AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

In a first in Indian Premier League, the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday announced former players AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle as its first two inductees to the Hall of Fame for their tremendous service to the franchise.

The event, which was organised in the IPL bio-secure bubble, saw De Villiers and Gayle joining it via video conference.

During the event, former RCB captain Virat Kohli announced both the players into the RCB Hall of Fame. 

“It’s truly special for me to be doing this for the both of you. We have seen how you’ve changed the way the IPL has been played over the years,” Kohli said.

“AB has truly changed the game of cricket with his innovation and sportsmanship which defines RCB’s ‘Play Bold’ philosophy. In the videos, we saw you guys have changed how IPL is played. With AB I played for 11 years with Chris I played for seven. And both the journeys started in 2011 which for me is going to be the most special year as I met the both of you,” Kohli said.

He further added, “I remember a few memories of playing together which always stands out for me. With AB, they are from the 2016 seasons, both against Gujarat, where in one game we had that massive partnership together which was amazing.

“I saw first-hand close up how brilliant he is and I was astonished. I couldn’t believe what I had seen. The second memory is when we were struggling the same year and AB took us home,” he said.

Talking about Gayle, Kohli said no one can forget his 175-run knock which is still the highest score in IPL history.

“With Chris that year, he came in late after four games. Till then he must have been chilling in Jamaica. But then, he hit two centuries that year and went on to score a lot of runs. And then the 175, who can forget that,” Kohli added.

Gayle was with RCB until 2017 before moving to Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings). De Villiers retired from all forms of the game in November 2021.

De Villiers (4522) and Gayle (3420) are the second and third most run-scorers of the franchise after Kohli (6943).

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