South Africa pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada has hailed Virat Kohli as a great player, saying that he has always relished the challenge of bowling to the Indian batting star. Rabada mentioned that facing stalwarts like Kohli provides the best measure of assessing one’s skills.
The battle between Virat Kohli and the South African bowlers might stand out as a pivotal aspect of the Test series between India and South Africa. With an admirable Test track record in South Africa, the ex-India captain has scored 719 runs across seven Tests, boasting an average of 51.35.
“It’s always great playing against great players. Virat is a great player. He’s had quite some success against us, but at the same time, we’ve had success against him. It’s a battle that I look forward to always, when you measure yourself up against the best. That’s the reason why you play,” Kagiso Rabada said while speaking to Star Sports.
As per South African left-arm spinner Maharaj, Kohli’s profound understanding of his game is the key factor behind his remarkable success. Maharaj also highlighted that a player cannot average 50 over 100 Tests without being special.
“He knows his Test cricket game. He scored runs for numerous amount of years and the amount of centuries he has got. It’s just about making sure that you can be better than him on the day. [Playing against] someone of his caliber, it’s a best way to gauge yourself in terms of where you are with your game. Someone doesn’t just average 50 overnight playing over 100 Test matches for the country,” Keshav Maharaj added.
In his 111 Test appearances, Virat Kohli has amassed 8676 runs, maintaining an average of 49.33, with 29 centuries and an equal number of half-centuries.
