AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli pledge to auction IPL memorabilia for COVID-19 relief
Royal Challengers Bangalore's star duo of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli have decided to come forward and donate a part of their cricket kit the pair used during their famous 229-run partnership against the Gujarat Lions in IPL 2016.
During a candid Instagram Live chat hosted by Virat Kohli, de Villiers brought up the topic of his idea to donate the duo's cricket bats, gloves and the South African's shirt used in the match.
The RCB captain and de Villiers put on a mammoth 229-run partnership in the 44th match of IPL 2016 and lit up the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru with their fireworks.
The South African superstar walked down the memory lane to recall that famous encounter and proposed the idea of putting up a part of their kit from that match for auction.
"It was a good partnership, a very enjoyable one. I got 129, you got your 100 at the end. I was thinking of how to make a difference. I've got the shirt of that game. I got you to sign it and I've signed it as well. I'm gonna get hold of your bat and gloves and I will put it on auction on some online portal. I think it could be a nice collector item with that green kit," de Villiers said.
Virat Kohli was more than happy to help the South African stalwart raise funds for the cause and spoke highly of the gesture. As per de Villiers, the memorabilia will be put up for auction on online portal bidorbuy.
Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers both scored centuries for RCB in that match
In that particular game, RCB were rocked early as Chris Gayle was castled early before the fourth over. De Villiers and Virat Kohli joined forces in the middle and took on the bowlers, including 30 runs off the 19th over bowled by Shivil Kaushik.
De Villiers got to a 43-ball century in the 16th over while Virat Kohli, who was only on a 40-ball 51 took only 13 more balls to get to his century, getting to the landmark with a loft down the ground off Praveen Kumar's bowling.
The RCB duo's 229-run effort still stands as the highest-ever partnership for any wicket in the IPL.