Letting captaincy go last year played a big role in Kohli relaxing, says de Villiers

Legendary South African player A.B. de Villiers has backed his former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate Virat Kohli to have a big IPL season.

Kohli started strongly with an unbeaten 82 to help his side beat Mumbai Indians by eight wickets in the first game.

“I just feel this season he has come looking fresh. I saw a few interviews in which he was laughing more than ever. I think letting captaincy go last year played a big role in him just relaxing,” said de Villiers, who is in the country as an IPL Expert for JioCinema, during a media round-table on Wednesday.

Fantastic captain

“He was a fantastic captain, but he did it for a long time internationally and in the IPL, which can be daunting. You don’t have time to chill. I think that’s his mantra for the season: ‘go out and have fun’. When he is having fun, the natural talent takes over and he scores runs at ease. We will see some fireworks this season, and I think the best is yet to come,” added the former Proteas captain.

Speaking about some of the youngsters who have impressed so far, de Villiers was all praise for Yashavsi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma and B. Sai Sudharsan, whose half-century on Tuesday helped Gujarat Titans beat Delhi Capitals.

“Jaiswal looks very good. Tilak Varma, I was in awe when I saw him play the other day. He made it look simple and had a lot of time in his batting. Sai Sudharsan is very talented.

“He kept the whole innings together and allowed someone like David Miller to express himself in the back end. It shows there is lots of maturity in the youngster,” said the 39-year-old.