On Sunday, AB de Villiers ended the suspense surrounding Virat Kohli’s absence when he revealed on his YouTube channel that the India star is with his family because he and wife Anushka Sharma are expecting their second child. However, five days after making the revelation, de Villiers has made a striking U-turn on his statement, admitting that his information was incorrect and acknowledging that he ‘made a big mistake.’
“Family comes first and then Cricket. I made a terrible mistake on my YouTube channel. That information was wrong and not true at all. Virat has every right to take a break from national duties due to family reasons. I think whatever’s best for Virat’s family, comes first. No one knows what’s happening there, all I can do is wish him well. Whatever the reason for his break, I hope he can come back stronger, better and fresh from this,” de Villiers told Dainik Bhaskar.
De Villiers made the correction on the sidelines of the SA20, where he was part of various media interactions. But the fact that the former South Africa captain made an erroneous comment of such magnitude is pretty unexpected to say the least. Kohli and de Villiers are extremely close; Virat was one of the first people ABD informed about his retirement – he sent VK a voice note – and hence, it wasn’t surprising to know that he would have confided in de Villiers in terms of something as personal as becoming a father again. However, that the information is now deemed false by De Villiers adds a whole new layer of mystery around Kohli’s continued absence.
