‘99.9% Similar but..’ – AB De Villiers on Key Captaincy Difference With Virat Kohli

Two of the greatest leaders and batters of their generation, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers share a very close relationship ever since their days at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Recently, the Proteas wicketkeeper-batter opened up about the captaincy style between them and highlighted that while it’s almost similar, there remains one key difference.

Echoing on the same lines, AB de Villiers said on a podcast on his YouTube channel alongside India Women cricketer Shreyanka Patil,

“99.9% Similar. Very Competitive, huge inner drive if someone comes at me, I’ll get back at him but just a little less emotional. He really wants to win but I came to a spot in my career where I realised there are 11 people on the field and I need to get the best out of all the 11 players including myself.”

AB added, “First, I need to make sure to keep my side clean and then I need to have a positive influence on the other guys. So, if I as a leader and as a captain am overly emotional, If I show my disappointment to a delivery very often maybe that’ll take away 1% of the team not just me. I just realised I can’t individually win every single tournament and trophy that I want to.”

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AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli captaincy records

Both players have dominated the ODI format the most, shattering a host of records. However, speaking of their captaincy record, Virat relinquished the reins with a win percent of 68.4 while the Proteas finished with 60.1%.

As a Test captain, De Villiers was at the helm for only a short period while India achieved No.1 Test rankings under Virat Kohli and witnessed the dawn of a new landscape in the longest format.

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