Sundar Pichai to Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers gets all the love from the internet

Sundar Pichai and Virat Kohli were among those who showered praises on AB de Villiers.

South African great AB de Villiers retired from all forms of cricket on Friday, saying that the "flame no longer burns so brightly".

Praise poured in for de Villiers, with former South African captain, from all quarters, from cricketers to fans of the game, with Virat Kohli calling him the “best player of our times”.

“To the best player of our times and the most inspirational person I've met, you can be very proud of what you've done and what you've given to RCB my brother. Our bond is beyond the game and will always be,” Kohli, who captains the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), tweeted.

Today’s retirement announcement means he will no longer be RCB.

“This hurts my heart but I know you've made the best decision for yourself and your family like you've always done. I love you,” Kohli said.

This hurts my heart but I know you've made the best decision for yourself and your family like you've always done. I love you @ABdeVilliers17

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— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) November 19, 2021

Reciprocating Kohli’s love, de Villiers said, “Love u too my brother (sic).”

Here’s what Google CEO Sundar Pichai, a self-confessed cricket lover, had to say: “What a legacy, one of my favorites to watch ever!”

What a legacy, one of my favorites to watch ever! https://t.co/LxAsM8NVRP

— Sundar Pichai (@sundarpichai) November 19, 2021

Royal Challengers Bangalore too thank the cricketer from its official Twitter account. “End of an era! There’s nobody like you, AB. We’ll miss you dearly at RCB. For all that you’ve done and given to the team, to the fans, and to cricket lovers in general, #ThankYouAB. Happy retirement, legend!” the cricket team tweeted. RCB also changed its Twitter profile photo in honour of AB de Villiers.

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) November 19, 2021

In a special video message for RCB and its fans, he said, ““I’m going to be an RCBian for life. Every single person in the RCB set-up has become family to me. People come & go, but the spirit and the love we have for each other at RCB will always remain. I’ve become half Indian now and I’m proud of that.”

Here are more tweets from de Villiers fans, including popular brands:

Thank you, Mr. 360! #ABDevilliers pic.twitter.com/WjNLIeIAja

— zomato (@zomato) November 19, 2021

Will miss you AB. #ABDevilliers

— Awanish Sharan (@AwanishSharan) November 19, 2021

The GOAT retires. Thanx for everything AB de Villiers aka Superman.... This marks end of an era #ABDevilliers #ThankYouAB pic.twitter.com/xuj5Jt6nh5

— Atif (@pasha__atif) November 19, 2021

Thank you for the memories that you gave us for happy moments, thanks to all the incredible things that no one could possibly do.#ABDevilliers#ThankYouAbd pic.twitter.com/pt03vGmVCv

— neeraj (@MsDFan_kLTiger) November 19, 2021

In his cricketing journey, AB de Villiers played 114 Tests, 228 ODIs and 78 T20 internationals for South Africa, scoring more than 20,000 runs across the three formats.

(With inputs from AFP)