You are the most talented cricketer I've played with: Virat Kohli writes to AB de Villiers
Dubai, Oct 16: Virat Kohli on Wednesday described AB de Villiers as "the most talented cricketer" he has played with after the South African great was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.
De Villers was included in the long list of great players along with England legend Alastair Cook and India's Neetu David.
In an open letter to the inductees by those close to them, Kohli was effusive in praise of his teammate at IPL side Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
"You are thoroughly deserving of your place – after all, the Hall of Fame is a representation of your impact on the game, and yours has been truly unique," he wrote.
"People have always spoken about your ability, and rightly so. You are the most talented cricketer I have played with, the absolute number one."
Kohli described de Villiers' belief and doggedness to uphold the game's values as the qualities that had an impact on the psyche of those watching.
"A lot of players can have impressive numbers but very few have an impact on the psyche of those watching," he wrote.
"For me, that is the highest value you can have as a cricketer and that is what makes you so special."
"Through my time playing with and against you, you always had a very clear understanding of how the game should be played and you never really veered from that, regardless of whether you were doing well or not," he added.
Kohli said de Villiers was someone who was bailing his teams out of troubles more often than not.
"It was never about someone else. It was never about competing with another player," he described.
"It was always about what impact you could create for the team. In difficult situations, you were the man bailing out your team more often than not.
"Your drive to want to be the guy to win the game for your team was tremendous and something I learned a lot from," he said.
Kohli said de Villiers taught him about the importance of not resting on laurels.
"I remember taking from you that it doesn't matter what you have done in the last four games, it is about how you approach the game today.
"It is about always being positive, always taking the game on and finding a way to get the job done."
"You were always completely in tune with the needs of the team, which made you one of the hardest players to make plans for when we were on opposing sides in international cricket," he added.
Kohli, who shared the RCB dressing room with de Villiers for a decade from 2011-2021, said the former South African captain's 'self-belief' is one trait that stood out for him.
"But what truly stood out to me was your belief in that ability. You had a crazy amount of belief that you could execute whatever you wanted to on a cricket field, and you normally did. That is why you ended up being so special," he wrote.
Alongside recalling a special moment while playing together for RCB in a contest against Kolkata Knight Riders, Kohli also recollected memories of the 2015 Test in New Delhi, one in which the Proteas batters fought hard to force a draw.
"Everyone remembers your attacking shots but you would adapt to the situation. Take 2015, in Delhi, when you faced 297 balls and made 43 trying to save the Test match," Kohli said.
"There must have been a temptation at some stage to think 'I've faced 200 balls, I need to hit a boundary'. But once you locked yourself into what the situation required, you just kept going on and on.
"It all comes back to that belief in your ability. It wasn't just about the crazy, extravagant shots. You had the ability to defend the ball and had belief in that defence. To play that way because South Africa needed you to do so is a classic example of the team player you were," he added.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
