'Eat that!' Virat Kohli's critics pummeled as AB de Villiers digs out Gavaskar, Sehwag remarks in brutal hit back

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) legend AB de Villiers, on Monday, brutally hit back at Virat Kohli's critics as he dug out old remarks of Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag. De Villiers' comment came after Kohli's fiery knock of 62 runs against Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which helped RCB win by two runs, go to the top of the points table and have one foot in the playoffs of the IPL 2025. AB de Villiers hit back at Virat Kohli's critics(PTI)

Last year in the IPL, Kohli was subject to immense criticism for his strike rate in T20 cricket. Former India cricketer Sehwag had criticised the RCB star for scoring the joint-slowest century in the history of IPL. His eighth career IPL ton, en route to an unbeaten 113 against the Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur, came in 67 balls and Sehwag, in conversation with Cricbuzz, pointed out Kohli's mistake and said his strike rate should have improved after reaching the 50-run mark in 39 balls.

As for Gavaskar, Kohli had a well-documented back-and-forth with the India batting legend on his strike rate.

In a video shared on his Instagram handle, De Villiers shared the cutouts of Gavaskar and Sehwag's comments in lashing out at critics questioning Kohli's strike rate. However, he aimed his statement at the media, shortly after Kohli reclaimed the Orange Cap with his seventh half-century score this season.

"Virat is always there. He is Mr. Safety for RCB. When he is there, you don't have to fear. Never fear when Virat is near. That is the story. Nothing has ever changed, and what I want to tell all of you media people, I haven't forgotten. I have the brain of an elephant. To all my journalist friends out there, I love you guys. But remember when you said Virat bats too slow, right? Virat is there batting at almost a 200 strike rate last night. Eat that," he said.

How has Virat Kohli fared in IPL 2025?

The 37-year-old surpassed the 500-run mark in an IPL season for the record eighth time, surpassing David Warner. His knock of 62 against Chennai took his tally to 505 runs in IPL 2025, in 11 innings at a strike rate of 143.47. His tally of seven fifty-plus scores is also his third-best in an IPL season after 11 such scores in 2016 and eight in 2023.

Kohli's domination in the Orange Cap table, albeit leading by only a run against Gujarat Titans' Sai Sudharsan, also coincided with RCB's stellar show this season. The 2016 runners-up have managed eight wins in 11 games so far to stand on the brink of making the playoffs with three more games to spare.

Click here to read article