IND vs SA: Watch - Virat Kohli Perishes To Kagiso Rabada's Sensational Catch

Indian batter Virat Kohli was the lone warrior for the team in the first Test against South Africa. The series opener took place at the Supersport Park in Centurion and it was a forgetful outing for the visitors in the game. 

India lost wickets in quick succession of time in the second innings and it was a torrid outing for the team. After South Africa posted a total of 408 runs on the board in reply to visitors 245, something special was expected from Rohit’s army. 

But that wasn’t the case. Despite all the wickets falling at the other end, Virat Kohli kept the hopes alive for his team. He played wonderful innings under tough conditions and kept battling hard but he didn’t get the desired support. 

Virat Kohli tried too hard in the end and ended up getting out, which was also the last Indian wicket to fall. He perished to Marco Jansen as he attempted to take him on and get some quick runs. 

Marco Jansen bowled a back-of-length straight delivery to which Virat Kohli stepped out. He slashed it over the bowler’s head and it seemed that the ball would land safe but Kagiso Rabada did some exceptional in the field. 

Kagiso Rabada came running from long-on and put in a great dive to his left. He flew like Superman to pluck one out of thin air. With the way, Virat Kohli was batting, it needed something special to get rid of him and the pacer did exactly that. 

Here’s the video: 

pic.twitter.com/U1LvGr6qma

— Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) December 28, 2023

Virat Kohli ended with the knock of 76 runs off 82 balls. He slammed 12 fours and 1 six in his innings to keep his team’s hope alive. But he couldn’t take his team past South Africa’s total. Had he got support from others, it might have been a different story. 

IND vs SA: Virat Kohli becomes the first batter to cross 2000 runs in seven different calendar year 

Virat Kohli with his 76-run knock in the second innings of the first Test scripted history. He became the first batter to cross 2000 runs in seven different calendar years.  He achieved the feat after he crossed 2000 runs in 2023 with his valiant half-century. 

Virat Kohli with the feat broke Kumar Sangakkar’s record. The former Sri Lanka skipper achieved this feat six times during his career. 

Players with 2000+ international runs in a calendar year 

• Virat Kohli – 7 times 

• Kumar Sangakkara – 6 times 

• Mahela Jayawardene – 5 times 

• Sachin Tendulkar – 5 times 

• Jacques Kallis – 4 times

The Indian batter also went past New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell to become the second-leading run-getter in 2023. Virat Kohli only has Shubman Gill ahead of him. The young batter ended the year with 2154 runs to his name.

Virat ended the year on high as he had an average of over 65. He had a sensational outing in the ICC World Cup 2023. The batter ended the tournament as the leading run-getter with over 700 runs to his name, which is the highest in any edition of the tournament. He also broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most ODI centuries and now has 50 tons to his name.