Virat Kohli Shares Biggest Positives For India From The Test Series Against SA: South Africa registered a terrific comeback series win on Friday to take home the series 2-1. They won the last two Tests, both by 7 wickets, successfully chasing down totals in excess of 200 on pace-friendly surfaces, after they had lost the first Test by 113 runs.
Keegan Petersen was the Player of the Match for his scores of 72 and 82 that frustrated the Indian bowlers for large part of the game.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli was clearly dissatisfied with the performances India have put in in the last two Tests as they missed the chance to win their maiden Test series on South African soil. He was disappointed with the batting efforts put in by the team as a whole in the last two Tests on surfaces where South Africa lost only 3 wickets each in the fourth innings.
That will be Lunch on Day 4 of the 3rd Test.
South Africa require 41 runs to win.
Scorecard – https://t.co/rr2tvATzkl #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/wJBu8MQ5CC
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 14, 2022
There were still some positives for the visitors. When asked about the positive takeaways for India, Virat Kohli noted the performances of KL Rahul – a century and a fifty in the first two Tests making Rahul India’s top-scorer in the series – and praised his opening partner, Mayank Agarwal, for “getting stuck in” while facing a hostile bowling attack. The Indian skipper also hailed Rishabh Pant’s for his high-quality century in the third Test, however, that went in vain as other batters failed to deliver.
At the post-match presentation, Virat Kohli said, “KL’s batting as an opener. Mayank getting stuck in and then Rishabh’s innings in this game, these are some positives that we can take home. Also obviously, our win at Centurion was special.”
Virat Kohli stressed India’s failure to capitalize on the momentum following victory in the first Test. He also credited the South African side for bouncing back after a big defeat to take two wins in a row, and consequently the series.
“There was some lapse of concentration from us as well in key moments. I thought South Africa performed better in those key moments and totally deserved the win. One of the challenges that we have faced touring abroad is to capitalise on momentum when it is on our side,” the Indian skipper explained.
The 3-match ODI series starts from January 19 in Paarl.
