Team India’s Test captain Virat Kohli and his army have started with their South Africa tour after a week’s delay due to the Omicron scare. Team India is on the South African tour after nearly 3 years. Last time the visiting country lost to the hosts 2-1 in the test series. Meanwhile, when India hosted South Africa in 2019, the hosts swept the visitors 3-0. As, after winning the first Test, Kohli and Co prepare to win their first-ever test series in South Africa, let us see Virat Kohli’s performance against SA in Test.
Home test average
Playing 7 matches against Africa on home soil, Kohli averages 64.63. He has scored 517 runs with a strike rate of 63.83. In 10 innings, he remained not out twice, making one century and one half-century. The last time the two teams played at home, Kohli smashed a gigantic score of 254*.
5 Records broken by Virat’s 254*
- Virat Kohli became the first Indian captain in the Test to score 250 or more runs in a single inning. He cracked his record for the highest Test score by an Indian captain during this process.
- Virat became only the 2nd player to score a double century in the 50th Test match as captain.
- Second-highest individual Test score by an Indian against South Africa.
- Kohli has managed to convert 19 of his Test centuries as captain into 150+ scores.
- Surpassing Tendulkar and Sehwag, Kohli has seven double centuries in Test cricket; the most by any Indian.
Virat Kohli’s performance in the African backyard
Before the ongoing series, Virat has played a total of 5 Test matches in South Africa, scoring 558 runs at an average of 55.80. In red-ball cricket, he has two centuries and two half-centuries to his name. His highest score there is 153. Kohli has a 50-plus average against South Africa in their backyard and will look to build on that. Kohli amassed 272 runs at 68.00 during India’s two-Test tour of South Africa in 2013. In 2018, Kohli scored 286 runs in three matches at a strike rate of 47.66.
Virat Kohli has the highest batting average as the visiting batsman
Even though it’s been more than 2 since Virat Kohli has hit a century. It does not affect the record he already possesses. Kohli has 1395 runs in 26 innings against South Africa, with an enormous average of 63.40. It is also the highest average for a visiting batter in Tests in SA, with anyone having scored at least 1000 runs. In South Africa, not even the legendary Sachin Tendulkar or Sourav Ganguly can match Kohli’s average. Tendulkar scored 1,161 runs at an average of 46.44 in 15 Tests in South Africa during his career. Ganguly scored 563 runs at an average of 35.18 in 16 appearances in South Africa. VVS Laxman ranks third among Indian batters in South Africa, with a batting average of 40.42. In 18 innings, Laxman scored 566 runs.
What records can Kohli break in this tour?
- Virat Kohli can surpass Rahul Dravid’s record – The skipper presently has 1,075 runs against South Africa in 12 Tests, and he merely requires 177 more runs to outperform current head coach Rahul Dravid (1,252 runs).
- Kohli is on pace to surpass 8000 Test runs – Virat Kohli has acquired a total of 7,801 runs for India in the purest form of the game in his prominent and well-decorated cricket career, and he only needs 199 runs to surpass the tally of 8000 runs in Test cricket.
- First Indian skipper to defeat South Africa away from home – After defeating England and Australia at their backyards, Kohli is knocking on the door of Proteas to win against them. If he manages to do so, he will become the first Indian captain to win in Africa. Apart from that, he will then only need to win against NZ at their home ground to become a captain having won in all four SENA countries.
How has 2021 been for him in tests?
This year has been below par for Kohli and he may be disheartened with his performance. With the highest score of 72, he has contributed merely 483 runs in 17 innings with an average of 28.41 at a 44.31 strike rate. The year is about to end and we hope that Kohli’s century drought will end too. Looking at his stats on African grounds, it will be exhilarating to see him smash some runs so that the new year will start on a new positive note and hopefully a new peak for him too.