AB de Villiers opens up about the fallout with Kohli over Anushka’s pregnancy
New Delhi: The rift between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) legends Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers is nearly a year old, but the two stars have since reconciled and now, De Villiers himself has publicly clarified what really happened.
During the IPL final on June 3 in Ahmedabad, held at the grand Narendra Modi Stadium in front of over a lakh spectators, RCB players celebrated their much-awaited championship victory. Amidst the celebrations, Virat Kohli made a touching reference to his close friend De Villiers, suggesting that AB too had a role in some way in their title win. In return, De Villiers showered praise on Kohli.
However, just a day later, a tragic stampede incident near the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru put an abrupt pause on RCB’s celebrations. Around the same time, a journalist’s report revived the conversation about a past fallout between Kohli and De Villiers prompting the South African cricket legend to address the matter directly.
De Villiers revealed that the conflict stemmed from a slip-up he made regarding Anushka Sharma’s pregnancy last year. Kohli and Anushka had chosen to keep her pregnancy private. But De Villiers, while speaking on a media platform, accidentally revealed the news publicly something that reportedly upset Kohli deeply.
Speaking about the fallout, De Villiers said:
“Kohli ignored me for months. He wouldn’t respond to my messages. But now I’m really happy that we’re back to talking the way we used to.”
Virat and Anushka lovingly known as ‘Virushka’ are known for being intensely private about their family life. The couple has a daughter named Vamika and in 2024, they welcomed a son named Akaay. They have never shared photos of either child publicly and prefer that their children’s privacy be respected something both fans and friends are expected to honor.
This rare misstep by De Villiers created a temporary strain, but thankfully, the bond between the cricketing greats appears to be fully healed.