The Indian Test captain, Virat Kohli, who has been going through a lean patch, was seen back in his elements as he played a hard-fought 79 runs in the first innings of the ongoing third Test match between India and South Africa in Cape Town.
Despite going through a lean patch, Virat fought like a lone warrior on the field as the wickets kept falling from the other end. It was his effort which saved the day for team India as they managed to cross the 200-run mark in Cape Town. The Proteas were given a target of 223 runs after a stunning effort from the Proteas bowlers – Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen, who picked 4 and 3 wickets, respectively.
Virat Kohli walked out to bat after KL Rahul (12), Mayank Agarwal (15), Ajinkya Rahane (9) fell cheaply. India’s veteran cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara (43) helped Virat Kohli and later the skipper was helped by Rishabh Pant, as they made sure India doesn’t lose any more wickets till tea. The final session of the day saw Virat Kohli scoring his half-century off 158 balls.
But just when Virat looked all set to end his century drought, the wickets started falling at the other end. Virat, who was under tremendous pressure, decided to go for his big shots which led to his downfall. He was dismissed
With his stellar knock of 79 runs, Virat Kohli achieved a special milestone. He has completed 1000 runs as a captain in South Africa. Prior to this, Virat has already achieved this milestone in India, Australia, West Indies, and England as well. The 33-year-old has surpassed former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni, who was the first Indian skipper to score 1000 runs in all 4 countries.
Ever since his maiden double century, which came during a match in North Sound in June 2016, it is the first that the number of half-centuries (28) has exceeded centuries (27) for Virat Kohli in his career in the longest format of the game.
