It wasn’t the usual warm, hazy nostalgia you expect from a chat between two former RCB teammates. AB de Villiers dropped a bombshell on a podcast with Prakhar Gupta, admitting his first impression of Virat Kohli was that the Indian was "arrogant and cocky."
De Villiers didn’t back down when pressed. "Yeah, and I think he'll agree with that," he said, chuckling at the memory. But the South African great quickly clarified the context. What looked like arrogance to a young AB was actually an intense, almost blinding level of self-belief. "It gets misinterpreted sometimes," De Villiers noted, adding that he himself had been misjudged for similar traits early in his career.
The key insight here is the age factor. De Villiers pinpointed Kohli’s formative years—ages 19, 20, and 21—as the period where this intensity was most visible. "He was a very confident youngster," De Villiers said. "Early days. That's also what's necessary to achieve great success. You really need to believe in your own ability."
But confidence isn't static. De Villiers observed how that raw edge softened over time. "That faded away as he grew older and as he became more balanced," he explained. The need to prove himself, which fueled the perceived cockiness, eventually gave way to the quiet authority of a world-class player who no longer needed external validation.
The bond between the two, forged in the high-pressure cauldron of RCB, is now one of cricket's most enduring. But it started with a clash of egos that De Villiers now views with fond amusement. He’s not just remembering a teammate; he’s remembering the moment he recognized a future great, even if that greatness came wrapped in a layer of youthful bravado.
Kohli remains a central figure in Indian cricket, and while he hasn't publicly responded to De Villiers' specific phrasing, the sentiment aligns with narratives of his intense competitive nature. The next time they meet, perhaps the banter will be even sharper.