Former South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers has issued a new apology to Indian cricketer Virat Kohli and his family for disclosing sensitive information about them. Notably, Kohli, who opted out of the first two Tests against England, has been confirmed to miss the remaining three Tests of the series as well.

Confirming earlier speculations, Kohli continues to be absent from cricketing engagements due to personal reasons, rendering himself unavailable for the final three matches of the five-Test series against England.

Regrettably, AB de Villiers, a close friend of Kohli, had previously disclosed that the former India captain and his wife Anushka Sharma were expecting their second child, citing this as the reason for Kohli’s absence from the initial two Tests.

“All I know is he is fine. He is spending a bit of time with his family, that is the reason he is missing the first two Test matches. I am not going to confirm anything else. I cannot wait to see him back. He is fine, he is doing well.

Yes, his second child is on the way. Yes, it’s family time and things are important to him. If you are not true and genuine to yourself, you lose track of what you are here for. I think most people’s priority is family. You can’t judge Virat for that,” AB de Villiers had said.

De Villiers promptly retracted his statement and clarified that the information he had shared on YouTube was inaccurate.

Continuing on the topic of Kohli’s absence during his YouTube show on Saturday, De Villiers apologized to his friend and his family for his previous “blunder” and emphasized the importance of respecting their privacy regarding the matter.

“My friend Virat Kohli is still not available. I cry out to everybody to give him the privacy that he deserves. Family comes first. No one knows what exactly is going on. I am asking all of us to respect that. I did a bit of a blunder in my previous show and I apologize to the Kohli family for that,” he said.

“Just not nice. I shared information that was not confirmed at all so. I am begging everyone out there to respect him and his family and his private time. Hopefully, we will see Virat back, happy and scoring runs. Like he always does,” De Villiers said on his YouTube channel.