IND vs SA: "Virat Kohli Is The Biggest.."- Temba Bavuma

As the Indian team tries to overthrow the dominance of South Africa on their home soil which has seen the visitors go back without a single series win, the Captain of the home team has pointed out that Batting ace Virat Kohli is indeed the biggest threat to them ahead of the 1st Boxing Day Test at Centurion’s SuperSport Park Stadium.

Virat Kohli will be returning to action alongside Captain Rohit Sharma for the first time since the cruel ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Final loss against Australia on November 19. Since then the duo have been on a short break to revitalize themselves for the Red-ball phase of India’s tour.

Kohli and Rohit subsequently remained out of India’s squad for the 3-match ODI and T20I series. In Rohit and Pandya’s absence, KL Rahul served as the Captain of Men in Blue and became just the 2nd Indian captain after Virat Kohli himself to win an ODI series at South Africa.

But the main test is set to start today with Rahul Dravid’s men not just looking to win a Test match but winning the entire series this time around. They will look to script history with a series win here which will most importantly boost their percentile in the ICC World Test Championship points table.

India have reached both of the first 2 WTC finals in 2021 and in 2023. But the commonality in both of those occasions was that the Asian Giants lost to a Trans-Tasmanian team, first against New Zealand at Southampton followed by a loss to Australia at the Oval earlier this year in June.

But with new faces in the team, there is optimism of something special happening in the 2-match Freedom Trophy series. The likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul being the senior batters in the team will have to guide certain players who are going to get exposure to their first-ever Test match in South Africa.

Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, and Ishan Kishan will all be taking part in their debut red-ball match in South Africa. Although these players have gained a lot of experience already their skills will be tested more than ever in Bouncy and pacey tracks.

Bavuma, Rabada And Markram Look Forward For Clash Against Virat Kohli

When asked about the biggest threat for South Africa in this series, Skipper Temba Bavuma was quick to name Virat Kohli. “Biggest threat from the Indian Batting line-up, I think you can’t obviously rule out a guy like Virat Kohli. he has played here in South Africa quite a number of times, so you would say that he understands the conditions.” – Bavuma said.  

His teammates, Kagiso Rabada and Aiden Markram also stamped Kohli as the key player for India with the Speedster stating that he is looking forward for the 1v1 against the 35-year-old.

“It’s always great playing against great players. Virat is a great player, he has had quite some success against us.”

“Always great playing against great players.” @imVkohli commands admiration & respect even from his opponents

Will Kohli be able to stamp his authority & help Team India to win the Final Frontier?

Tune in to #SAvIND 1st Test
TOMORROW, 12:30 PM | Star Sports Network#Cricket pic.twitter.com/se9YUKd1AB

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 25, 2023

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has scored 719 runs in 7 Test matches in South Africa with an impressive average of 51.35 including 2 Centuries and 3 half-centuries.