Virat Kohli is arguably one of the finest cricketers of the present generation. He has broken many records already in his 13-year long international career. Kohli looks set to break a few more despite not being in the best of touch lately. This will be his third tour to South Africa.
He has scored a century in each of his previous two tours. Kohli will be determined to make it count the third time too. India needs Kohli to fire for them to win their first-ever Test series in South Africa.
We look at 4 records that Kohli can break during the SA series:
#4 Rahul Dravid’s record
Sachin Tendulkar holds the Indian record for scoring most Test runs against South Africa. He has amassed 1741 runs in the 25 Tests he has played against them. Virender Sehwag comes second with 1308 runs in 15 Tests.
Rahul Dravid (1252) the current head coach stands third on the list. Virat Kohli closely follows him in the fourth spot with 1065 runs. Kohli needs just 177 runs to overtake Dravid. He will fancy going ahead of Sehwag’s record too.
#3 Opportunity to go past 8000 Test runs
Virat Kohli has 7801 Test runs. He is head to head with other present greats of the game. Kohli just needs 199 runs to achieve a major milestone. He will become one of the fe batsmen in the game who will touch the golden 8000-runs mark. One can count on Kohli to reach this landmark soon.
#2 100th Test of his Career
Virat Kohli is the 2nd most experienced Test player in this side apart from Ishant Sharma. Kohli has played 97 Tests so far. He has the opportunity to reach the coveted 100-Tests mark in this series itself. Kohli will be one of the few players who will be reaching his 100th Test milestone in the rainbow nation. He will be the 12th Indian cricketer to reach this landmark.
#1 The chance to create history as Indian captain
India toured South Africa for the first time in the 1992-93 season. Mohammad Azharuddin was the Indian captain then. Since then, South Africa has proven to be a destination that has been out of India’s reach. In fact, India won their first-ever Test in 2006-07.
The closest India came to winning a series was in 2010-11. They tied the series 1-1 back then. Kohli-led India in 2017-18 played admirable cricket but fell short eventually losing the series 1-2. The team this time has earmarked this as their final frontier. Kohli’s legacy will be carved in gold if he manages to win the series against South Africa in their home.