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South Africa great AB de Villiers has a ton of respect for talented Indian captain Rohit Sharma.
Talking on his YouTube channel, de Villiers revealed the reason for his fandom.
Rohit is the sixth Indian to enter the 10,000 ODI runs club after Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni and Rahul Dravid. He is also the second-fastest to do so after former skipper and current teammate Kohli.
"Rohit was fourth slowest to 2,000 runs, but the second fastest to 10,000. How's that for a comeback? I have a lot of respect for him," he said.
"The first time I watched him play, I thought this guy has got something special to offer. What I like most about him -- from a very young age, he's always had a fighting spirit. He would not back down to anyone."
De Villiers also recollected how Rohit took on fierce South African pacers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel during a Durban Test.
"I think of a Test match in Durban where he just wouldn't stand back to Dale Steyn or Morne Morkel or any of our fast bowlers. He would make eye contact," he said.
"If anyone chirped him, he would be right in their face, chest out. I always liked that."