IND vs SA: Virat Kohli inches closer to break records in Tests

IND vs SA: India's stalwart batter Virat Kohli will be eying to move past the disappointment of the recently concluded ODI World Cup final defeat against Australia and start afresh when he returns to action for the two-match Test series against South Africa. Importantly, the series is set to be played on South African turf.

The series will kickstart on the boxing day, with the first Test at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. The star Indian batter has been on a break after the heartbreaking loss against Aussie. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and pacer Jasprit Bumrah had taken a break along with Kohli. The trio missed the T20I clash against Australia on home soil followed by ODI and T20I series against the Protese and will be eager to take on the South African challenge.

Virat's sublime form

Kohli was in impeccable form in the World Cup where he scored 765 runs from 11 matches at an average of 95.62. The veteran batter tumbled several records in the tournament. Kohli surpassed the legendary Sachin Tendulkar's record to score the most runs in a single edition. Sachin notched up 675 runs in the ODI World Cup 2003. Kohli also broke Sachin’s all-time record for most ODI centuries with his 50th century in the semi-final encounter against New Zealand.

Kohli to shatter records

As Kohli gears for a new challenge in the Test series against Protese, fans and team management will be expecting some classic batting from the experienced campaigner. Kohli is on the edge of breaking the records of Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag in the India-South Africa Tests.

Kohli has performed exceptionally well in South Africa. So far, Kohli scored 1236 runs in just 14 Tests with a brilliant average of over 56 runs against South Africa. The 35-year-old is fourth on the list of Indians with the most runs in Tests against the Proteas men. Kohli needs to score just 16 runs to go past legendary Rahul Dravid’s tally of 1252 runs and 70 runs to surpass Virender Sehwag, who scored 1306 runs against South Africa.

Indians with the most runs in South Africa (Tests)

• Sachin Tendulkar – 1741 runs
• Virender Sehwag – 1306 runs
• Rahul Dravid – 1252 runs
• Virat Kohli – 1236 runs