Kohli also rated de Villiers, who hit six fours and eight sixes in his incredible innings, as the best current player in the world in the shorter format.
"He (AB) is the best player in the world by far. He has shown it every now and then, and he has shown it again today why he is rated the number one in the world in any format. It was one of the best innings in T20 I have seen," Kohli said in awe of his team-mate after Bangalore beat Hyderabad by four wicket in a dramatic match.
Hyderabad captain Shikhar Dhawan said any side could have done little with an opposition player coming up with an innings like the one played by de Villiers today.
"You cannot help it when someone produces a great knock. Unfortunately we missed the half chance AB offered at point and he took it away after that. We felt we were 10-15 runs short," Dhawan rued, referring to the tough catching chance Karn Sharma failed to hold onto in the 14th over when de Villiers was on 32.