IND vs SA: Aiden Markram Ready To Compete Against 'Fierce Competitor' Virat Kohli

South African batter Aiden Markram before the Boxing Day 1st Test match against India at Centurion hailed Indian batter Virat Kohli for his hunger and competitive nature and said that the hosts despite being less skillful than the visitors will try to outperform their opponents in the 2-match Freedom Trophy Test series starting from today.

The Indian team under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma will try to lessen the domination of South Africa on their home soil which has seen the subcontinent giants never being able to win a single Test series against them in over 30 years.

 

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Over the years, India have tried out various captains and tactics while attempting to beat South Africa at home but there is optimism this time around that the visitors can actually get a result in their favor. With some new faces in the team, Rahul Dravid’s men have freshness in their batting line-up but at the same time, he will hope that the team is not much reliant on Virat Kohli who has a terrific record at the Rainbow Nation.

Before the 1st Test, Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Kagiso Rabada, and Marco Jansen all appreciated Kohli for his sheer confidence and all of them said that they were looking forward to the contest.

“He is a fierce competitor. We might not always be the most skilful people, but to always try to fight out and compete, have more hunger than you’ve been playing against,” Markram said.

While Bavuma claimed that Virat Kohli can never be underestimated and remains the biggest threat for them in this series, Rabada expressed his desire of not being able to wait to bowl against the 35-year-old.

“The biggest threat in the Indian batting lineup, you obviously can’t rule out Virat Kohli. He has played here quite a number of times, so we’ll say that he understands the conditions,” Bavuma opined on Virat Kohli. 

Marco Jansen stated that bowling against Virat Kohli is specifically challenging because he knows his strengths and weaknesses very well, which is evident in his career average in South Africa of 51.35.

“Bowling to Virat Kohli is tough because he knows what he is doing, and he knows what his strengths and weaknesses are,” Jansen said.

Virat Kohli Will Try To Further Improve His Record Against A Stiff South African Bowling Attack

Amongst the Indian squad selected for the 2 Tests in South Africa, Virat Kohli stands as the most successful batter with 719 runs under his belt. Overall, Kohli has 1236 runs in 14 Tests against them with a best of 254 not out at home. He also has 3 centuries and 4 half-centuries but he no doubt, faces a stiff challenge this time around.

The hosts have a fierce bowling attack (as always) having the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Nandre Burger, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, and Gerald Coetzee who has been in good form of late. But given the fact that Virat Kohli is the type of player who stands up strong for his team in difficult circumstances, it will be interesting to see their game plan against the Indian Run machine.

Meanwhile at Centurion where the 1st Test is underway, Temba Bavuma after winning the toss asked the visitors to bat first. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma opened the innings for India with the latter getting out for just 5 runs by Kagiso Rabada as he handed the ball to Nandre Burger at Deep fine leg while playing his trademark Pull shot.

Shubman Gill has replaced Rohit in the crease and India are currently 21/1 after 8 overs.