AB de Villiers is a hugely popular figure in India. His long stint in the IPL for the Royal Challengers Bangalore has made him more of a local than a foreigner. The love he gets from the Indian fans is incredible and unseen for a player from a foreign land. Even though the South African has retired from international cricket, he will continue playing in the IPL.

De Villiers is currently in India for an event and he answered questions about the state of Indian cricket. A huge topic of debate in the country is the place of MS Dhoni in the limited overs side. While many believe that the wicketkeeper-batsman has gone past his best days already, de Villiers feels he would pick Dhoni even at the age of 80.

“You guys are funny. No, I would play MS Dhoni in my team every day of every year. He can be 80 (years old), I ensure he will play for my team. He is fantastic I mean look at his record. You want to drop a guy like that? You can go ahead by all means. I wouldn’t,” he was quoted as saying by The Quint.

Kohli’s form is scary, reckons de Villiers

AB de Villiers makes a formidable pair alongside Virat Kohli at the crease. If we compare cricket with football, the two are like Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo. There’s always a debate in the football world about who’s the greatest. A similar tale lies in cricket when Virat and AB are termed as the two best in the world. While Messi and Ronaldo never play for the same side, the cricket fans are lucky to witness Kohli and de Villiers bat together.

“There is definitely some chemistry about us batting together. We have a similar mindset about the game which we enjoy. It’s nice to bat with someone who understands the way you play and also the mutual understanding. He likes Ronaldo so let him be that and I’ll be Messi, will take that gladly,” added the former South African captain.

The cricketing world has seen the meteoric rise of Virat Kohli recently both as a captain as well as a player. He has been knocking down records for fun of late. AB feels it’s scary that Kohli is in such a nick and he’s only going to improve.

“He is a really good captain and getting better. That is the scary part. As a batsman, he has got areas where he can improve and that is also scary, so all in all, he is in a great place in his work,” said AB.

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