Virat Kohli on Wednesday described AB de Villiers as “the most talented cricketer” and “one of the greatest” he has played with after the former South Africa captain was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.

In an open letter published by the ICC, Kohli was effusive in his praise of his former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate, whom he referred to as “biscotti”.

“You are thoroughly deserving of your place — after all, the Hall of Fame is a representation of your impact on the game, and yours has been truly unique,” Kohli wrote.

“People have always spoken about your ability, and rightly so. You are the most talented cricketer I have played with, the absolute number one.”

De Villiers too thanked Kohli with a heartfelt message on X.

“Thank you for the kind words, my biscuit! And for reminding me of those amazing moments we’ve shared,
that I’ll never forget!”
De Villiers wrote.

Kohli described De Villiers’ belief and doggedness to uphold the game’s values
as the qualities that had an impact on the psyche of those watching.

“A lot of players can have impressive numbers but very few have an impact on the psyche of those watching,” he wrote.

“For me, that is the highest value you can have as a cricketer and that is what makes you so special.”

“Through my time playing with and against you, you always had a very clear understanding of how the game should be played and you never really veered from that, regardless of whether you were doing well or not.”

Kohli said De Villiers was someone who was bailing his teams out of trouble more often than not.

“It was never about someone else. It was never about competing with another player. It was always about what impact you could create for the team. In difficult situations, you were the man bailing out your team more often than not.

“Your drive to want to be the guy to win the game for your team was tremendous and something I learned a lot from,” he said.

Kohli said De Villiers taught him about the
importance of not resting
on laurels.

“I remember taking from you that it doesn’t matter what you have done in the last four games, it is about how you approach the game today.

“It is about always being positive, always taking the game on and finding a way to get the job done.

“You were always completely in tune with the needs of the team, which made you one of the hardest players to make plans for when we were on opposing sides in international cricket,” he added.

“But what truly stood out to me was your belief in that ability. You had a crazy amount of belief that you could execute whatever you wanted to on a cricket
field, and you normally did. That is why you ended up being so special.

“Everyone remembers your attacking shots but you would adapt to the situation. Take 2015, in Delhi, when you faced 297 balls and made 43 trying to save the Test match,” Kohli said.

“There must have been a temptation at some stage to think ‘I’ve faced 200 balls, I need to hit a boundary’. But once you locked yourself into what the situation required, you just kept going on and on.

“It all comes back to that belief in your ability. It
wasn’t just about the crazy, extravagant shots. You had the ability to defend the ball and had belief in that defence. To play that way because South Africa needed you
to do so is a classic example of the team player you were,” he added.