Virat Kohli's emotional hug with AB de Villiers sends fans into a frenzy

Ahead of the IPL 2025 final between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings, Virat Kohli shared a warm hug with AB de Villiers near the boundary ropes. AB, on commentary duty for the night, was stationed close to the RCB dugout when Kohli walked up to greet him. The brief moment drew cheers from early-arriving fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, still filling up before the toss. The gesture between two RCB legends served as a quiet nod to their shared history and friendship built over years of playing together.

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At the toss, PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer chose to bowl first. "We’re going to bowl. The crowd is electrifying. We’ve spoken about staying calm and enjoying the moment," Iyer said. It's the final and we're going to play like a final.

Tremendous feeling just thinking about lifting the trophy. RCB captain Rajat Patidar said, "We were also looking to bowl. We’ve played good cricket till now and just want to put up a strong total."

Kohli opened the innings for Bengaluru, starting yet another high-stakes evening for RCB but not before one of the night’s most touching visuals played out with AB de Villiers on the sidelines.Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Mayank Agarawal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Romario Shepherd, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh HazlewoodPunjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Josh Inglis(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai, Kyle Jamieson, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal