AB de Villiers Backs 'Friend' Virat Kohli Ahead Of India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2022 Match

Virat Kohli's close friend AB de Villiers is hopeful that the Indian legend will return back to his old form in the upcoming Asia Cup 2022.

For many years, De Villiers played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) along with Virat in IPL.  ( Image Source :AFP )

Virat Kohli in Asia Cup 2022: Indian cricket team's former captain Virat Kohli, regarded as one of the greatest batters in international cricket, is currently struggling to regain his form. Kohli's lean patch in international cricket seems to be never-ending. The star batter has not scored any international ton for almost three years. The last time Virat scored a ton in international cricket was during a Test match against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. More than 1,000 days have passed and fans are waiting for Kohli's century.

Kohli's form has become a matter of concern in recent times. The Indian team, after the Asia Cup 2022, has its eyes set on the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia and the team badly needs Kohli to regain his form ahead of the mega tournament. Meanwhile, Kohli's close friend AB de Villiers is hopeful that the Indian legend will return back to his old form in the upcoming Asia Cup. For many years, De Villiers played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) along with Virat in IPL. 

"Virat [Kohli] is one of the greatest cricketers ever to play the game. Form is temporary, class is permanent. Virat remains world-class. Virat and I remain in regular contact. We are friends, and he certainly does not need me to tell him the importance of working hard during a bad patch," said De Villers in an interaction with NDTV.

India will kickoff their Asia Cup 2022 campaign with a match against arch-nemesis Pakistan on August 28. The match will be played in Dubai. Virat played his last T20 International match against England in July 2022. Against Pakistan, his last ODI match was in July 2022. Kohli has so far scored 3308 runs in T20 matches with help of 30 half-centuries. Kohli has scored 12344 runs in 262 ODIs.