AB de Villiers issues further apology on providing false information regarding Virat Kohli’s absence from England Tests

India finally announced their squad for the remaining three matches against England and there have been some notable inclusions and exclusions from the squad which has left the fans surprised. But one exclusion that looked on the cards was that of India’s premier batter Virat Kohli.

Kohli opted out of the first two tests citing personal reasons and the Indian Cricket Board respected his decision and also asked the fans to respect the veteran’s privacy. However, before the announcement of the squad, there were reports of Virat missing more matches or the entire series against England due to his commitments.

AB de Villiers goof-up on Virat Kohli’s absence

Amid Virat’s absence, there were speculations during the rounds regarding his absence from the series, however, all hell broke loose when South Africa’s former explosive batter and Virat’s former RCB teammate broke the news on his YouTube channel that Virat is not featuring in the series against England as he and Anushka Sharma are expecting their 2nd child and he wants to spend the time with his family during this time.

There was no official confirmation from Virat Kohli’s side on this matter as he wanted to keep it private but after De Villiers goofed up the news spread like wildfire. AB de Villiers soon realized his mistake and instantly issued an apology on the whole matter. De Villiers also removed the controversial clip from his channel to pacify the whole matter.

When the Indian Cricket Board announced the squad for the remainder of the test series against England and Virat was not there, the rumours of Virat’s 2nd child again gained traction. Therefore, AB de Villiers again took it to his YouTube channel just before the SA20 final where he again issued an apology for providing false information and pleaded with the fans to respect Virat’s privacy.

De Villiers on his YouTube channel said, “My friend Virat Kohli is still not available. I cry out to everyone to give him the privacy that he deserves. Family comes first. No one knows what exactly is going on. I am asking all of us to respect that. I made a bit of a blunder in my previous show and I apologise to the Kohli family for that."  Watch the video here:

360 Live Q&A | #PSL + #SA20 https://t.co/mdSQk6TBCP

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) February 10, 2024

He further added, “Just not nice. I shared information that was not confirmed at all. I am begging everyone out there to respect him and his family and his private time. Hopefully, we will see Virat back, happy and scoring runs as he always does."