'He was cocky and arrogant' - AB de Villiers makes honest confession about his first impression of Virat Kohli

(Source - Twitter)

One of the finest cricketers in the world, Virat Kohli has won many fans and also haters across the globe over the years for his aggressive nature and batting prowess on the field. In the early days of his career, many saw the former India captain as arrogant but later realized that it was part of his passion for the game. And off the, he is known to have a charismatic persona and is also well-humoured. Even AB de Villiers found Kohli seemingly 'arrogant and cocky' when he first met him.

De Villiers and Kohli, ever since, have developed a great friendship while playing for the Indian T20 League franchise Bangalore. Both of them carried their team's batting unit for many years and have always been crowd-pullers with heroic performances. The former South African captain opened up about his first impression of Kohli in a conversation with his other Bangalore teammate Chris Gayle.

When ABD was asked about this in an episode of the franchise's Bold Diaries, he was absolutely honest:

"Oh my goodness...I have had this question before and I had given this answer before as well. I think he was quite cocky and arrogant when I met him the first time. With that hairstyle and he had bit of a strut going...yes flamboyant, absolutely.

I got to know him better as a human being: De Villiers

But, the wicketkeeper batter, who announced retirement from all forms of the game in 2021, admitted his views changed and his respect grew as he got to know Kohli better.

"But the minute I got to know him a bit better and watched him play I mean I've got as much respect for him but I got to know him better as a human being. I think he had a barrier around him when I met him the first time and that barrier opened up and I got to know the person. I didn't not like him but you know what I'm saying. He's a top person now but first impression was ufff...he's got to come down to earth a bit," De Villiers said in the video.

Meanwhile, the latest edition of the Indian T20 League will start on March 31 and Bangalore will begin their 2023 campaign on April 2 against Mumbai at their home ground. ABD and Gayle attended Bangalore's Unbox event on 26 March 2023 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium for the franchise Hall of Fame induction.