IND vs SA: I Feel Indians Are Often Obsessed With Statistics: Dilip Vengsarkar Backs Virat Kohli's Batting Efforts In Cape Town

Former Indian cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar said that people in India have an obsession with statistics and backed Virat Kohli’s performance in Cape Town.

It’s been more than two years since Kohli scored an international hundred with his last one coming against Bangladesh in November 2019.

Virat Kohli adapted a complete defensive mode against South Africa in Cape Town

Recently in the final Test in Cape Town, to counter the balls that were often pitched outside the off-stump, Kohli made amendments to his approach and left most of the balls.

He made 79 from 201 balls as he helped India to post a decent score of 223 in the first innings.

After the team lost the series to South Africa, out of the blue, Kohli decided to step down from Test captaincy. Many experts believe that Kohli will be able to concentrate on his batting after relinquishing captaincy duties from all formats.

Virat Kohli’s commitment and the intent was fantastic: Dilip Vengsarkar

Vengsarkar expressed his disapproval with the popular notion that Kohli hasn’t scored enough runs and lauded his batting efforts in Cape Town.

“I don’t agree with this because I feel that Kohli has had a dream run for nearly five years as a batsman and captain. For all the talk about his current lean phase, I feel that Indians are often obsessed with statistics and that’s something that I don’t believe in,” Vengsarkar told Gulf News.

“Yes, it’s true that he hasn’t got a century over the last few years but the way he applied himself, adapted to the movement and bounce of the ball on the South African wickets was exemplary. At Newlands, the way he held himself back and built the innings after the fall of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane to score 79 off 201 – every run continued on those wickets. His commitment and intent was fantastic,” he added.

Kohli made 161 runs from four innings at an average of 40.25 in the Test series against South Africa. He missed the second Test after sustaining an upper back spasm.

Also Read: Virat Kohli Can Focus More On His Batting, Says Dale Steyn