IND vs SA: "Virat Kohli Might Make Way For One Of The Formats.."- Faf du Plessis

Former South African Batsman and current Royal Challengers Bangalore Captain Faf Du Plessis in a recent interview has claimed that his RCB teammate Virat Kohli is a big match player and that his drive, hunger, and passion for cricket is something that all youngsters should learn from him.

Virat Kohli will be back in action for the first time since ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 when India plays a Boxing Day test match against South Africa in a 2-match 2023/24 Freedom Trophy series. Team India will be aiming to win their first-ever Test series on South African soil and for that Kohli’s form is going to be very important.

He has a decent record against the Proteas both home and away but he was not able to score a century, the last time he toured back in 2021/22. The 35-year-old has scored 545 runs in the Red-ball format this year and also eclipsed the Great Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 ODI centuries.

He smacked his 50th ODI ton against New Zealand in the ICC CWC 2023 Semi-final at the Wankhede which was his 3rd in the World Cup and 6th overall in 2023. He will cap off 2023 in style by adding his 30th test century when the 1st Test starts on December 26th at Johannesburg.

Fans are eagerly waiting to see him don the white jersey for India, something he feels proud about.

“I’m a traditionalist. You can say, so for me playing in whites, in Test cricket, is everything. That’s what I’ve grown up on and I’m honored that I’ve been able to play more than 100 Test matches for my country and I’ve managed to pursue my dreams of being a Test cricket. – said Kohli on the build-up to the first Test. 

Every cricketer in the world admires the way Virat Kohli moves about and his RCB captain Faf Du Plessis is no exception.

In a recent interview, Du Plessis was asked if he had congratulated Virat Kohli on becoming the Player of the Tournament of CWC 2023, to which he said, “Yeah I was really proud to see how he went about in his business. I remember being in studio work before the World Cup and I was asked about who is going to be the most prolific Batsman and for me, knowing Virat, I just had a real confidence in him. He is a similar player that rises to the occasion, on the bigger occasions,” Du Plessis said. 

“His Fans Are Like Fuel For Him”, Du Plessis On How Much Virat Kohli Loves His Fans

The Former South African added that whenever Virat Kohli plays in front of bigger crowds, he tends to become an even better cricketer, almost as if his fans act like Fuel for him, and stated that was another reason why Du Plessis believed that he will be the highest run scorer of the tournament.

“His drive, his hunger to be at that level is really something to admire and it will be interesting to see how long he still plays the 50-over format. He is someone that you would hope will play a long more, a lot more time still but obviously with India’s scheduling is always intense so maybe he might have to make way for one of the formats, but hopefully he continues in all 3 formats,” Du Plessis concluded.