Virat Kohli ODI Performance In South Africa

The great man will hopefully make headlines for excellence with the bat, once again. That is what the die hard fan and the tireless cricket lover hopes for. However, that does not mean that given the tireless pursuer of excellence that he is, Virat Kohli would be taking things lightly. After all, he will face the daunting South Africa challenge in the immediate future and it might just be one to watch out for. Should Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron view the current month with the realisation that it is the month of the ‘King’s birthday’, they’d know why we fans want it to be ‘Sweet November’. For that to happen, Virat Kohli may want to immediately get into the fact and fire runs on November 30, the date for the ODI leg (1st of 3) begins during South Africa’s tour to India, 2025. In over a decade and a half that he has played the sport playing it with absolute commitment, Virat Kohli has been true to his spirit.

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What does that mean? He has the desire to keep getting better at what he does. Yes, at 37 years of age, the supremely fit athlete who doesn’t take his diet for granted, can be criticised- but constructively only- for faltering with the bat. This being his weapon of choice; for the lip service and the expletives have dried down considerably. He failed against Australia in the recent one dayers, rude or brutal that it may sound. Making back-to-back ducks against a prime opponent in the latter’s own backyard may never have been his idea of a good day in the first place. But what did we see in the final game? A match-winning fifty and a timely one at that, right? Now, given South Africa too, would not make things easy for the batter- and let it be reminded, the Delhi-born India star is a timeless great- things could get interesting. Why? Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Corbin Bosch, just to name a few, might come hard at the belligerent right hander, who has against his name 51 ODI centuries, the most ever by anyone, and 14255 runs.

But again, the greats raise their game against opponents that are great themselves. If you are still calling the Proteas ‘Chokers’, then probably you are overdependent on the ‘C’ word. Easy words to make from that alphabet, besides Cow and Cancer is a word that rhymes with the nickname of a great former F1 driver who was called, ‘Hunt, the Shunt’!

One expects the forthcoming contests to be hugely interesting ones also because much like the great Hitman, Kohli isn’t getting any younger and series’ like the forthcoming one against the Proteas men’s might be one of the last for one of the great doyens with the bat the game has ever seen.

So what does Virat Kohli’s ODI performance in South Africa seem like?

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