SA vs IND 2018: Virat Kohli’s Form Will Be Very Important for the Side - Sourav Ganguly

Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has said Virat Kohli’s form will be crucial for India’s chance in the ongoing series against South Africa.

Kohli has not started the tour on the expected lines, having been dismissed for just five in the first innings of the ongoing first Test in Cape Town.

However, there is absolutely no denying the fact the visitors need their skipper to start piling up the runs if they are harbouring hopes of leading the nation to its first Test series win in the rainbow nation.

Kohli has been one of the biggest contributors with the bat for India across formats in the last couple of years. The India skipper scored a staggering 2818 runs across all formats in international cricket in 2017 – the third-highest tally ever recorded in a calendar year. In India’s last Test assignment which was against Sri Lanka, he scored one century and two double centuries which helped him to set a new record for most double-centuries by captains in Tests. Having hit no double-century in his first five years of the Test career, the 29-year has now managed six.

Until 2015, he had 11 hundred from 72 innings in 41 Tests with the highest score of 169. Since then, he has scored nine centuries in 22 Tests, converting six of them into double.

“Virat’s form will be very important for the side. It is his first tour to South Africa as captain, and it will be very important for him to strike a balance as skipper and a batsman. His form as captain in the two previous instances in Adelaide and Sydney were brilliant, and hopefully those memories will remain fresh for him and help him,” Ganguly wrote in his column for The Times of India.

Ganguly further said he was confident of a good show from India in the ongoing and upcoming overseas assignments.

“India have had a phenomenal year in 2017, and they will be looking to continue that momentum. One must also understand that it will be a totally different kettle of fish to playing at home, but I believe that this team has the ability to make a difference,” he wrote.

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Catch India’s tour to South Africa here.

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