Kohli-AB hitting new IPL heights

Bowlers in the Indian Premier League look away now – Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling coach Allan Donald has some very bad news.

"I asked Virat (Kohli) the other day 'is this the best you think you've ever played?' and he said 'Comfortably, yes'," Donald told reporters on Friday.

RCB talisman Kohli has been in imperious form in the IPL this season.

After topping the World T20 runs tally, the Bangalore and India Test captain has plundered 367 runs at 92 in five matches in IPL 2016 to be the competition's leading run-scorer. 

While those numbers are impressive, it's Kohli's partnership with South African AB de Villiers that has been truly remarkable.

Perhaps the two best batsmen in the world, together they own three century stands this season, including the two highest of 157 and 155.

It's no surprise that Donald answered a definite "no" when he was asked if he's ever seen a more destructive partnership during his time in cricket.

"I'm just glad I'm the bowling coach who doesn't have to talk about them in bowlers' meetings," Donald said.

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"(They're) two of the best young players in the world that you wish to see in one dressing room.

"What they bring, not just in terms of the quality of their cricket, but also in terms of their leadership, (is great) for any young Indian or any young player that's in the same dressing room as them. (They) can just learn so much (from) those two.

"The wealth of experience, they bring a humility to the dressing room, they also bring unbelievable leadership and that's very, very valuable.

"It's a great privilege to be in the same dressing room as those two."

The dynamic pair's highest stand of 157 came against Saturday's opponents Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening match of the tournament.

The partnership was the backbone of Bangalore's whopping first innings total of 227, a score which proved insurmountable for Hyderabad.

Sunrisers coach Tom Moody knows just how vital snapping the Kohli-De Villiers partnership will be if his side wants to square the ledger at one apiece.

"Both world-class players," Moody said of the two T20 giants. "We all know that both those players are very destructive on any given day and on any surface.

"It is important for us to break that partnership and we'll have our plans for going about doing that.

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"We've just got to make sure that when those opportunities come we grab it.

"They got away from us in that very first game in Bangalore, but that is one venue that is very hard to stop world-class players, on such a small ground and a good surface.

"It's a different surface here, it's a different shaped ground. We've got a few ideas that will hopefully work out tomorrow."