Indian
captain Virat Kohli, labelled the best batsman in the world by head
coach Ravi Shastri, wants his team to rise to one more challenge before
they finish their gruelling South African tour.
“The tour is not
over,” said Kohli ahead of a three-match Twenty20 series starting at the
Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg today.
After leading India to a
crushing 5-1 one-day international series victory to compensate for a
2-1 Test series defeat to the South Africans, Kohli said India were
still hungry for success.
“That is the frame of mind we are in and we are looking forward to the T20s now,” he said.
Kohli
capped an exceptional personal performance by hitting 129 not out in
the sixth one-day international in Centurion on Friday, taking his
aggregate to a world bilateral one-day series record of 558 runs at an
average of 186.
Shastri lauded Kohli’s leadership and his batting
skills: “I’ve seen him batting across all conditions, all formats. It’s
not just averages, it’s the way you get runs, when you get it and then
to back those runs up on what the team does.
“I would safely say he is the best batsman in the world.”
‘No backward steps’
Asked
whether he considered himself the best, Kohli told journalists: “I am
not competing with anyone. I only look to help my team. If you are
thinking about the team special things happen.
“If you are thinking about being ahead of someone else, you’ll be found out very soon by this game.”
Kohli said India had pledged not to take “a backward step” after losing the first two Tests in South Africa.
He
said their win in the third and final Test had been a turning point.
“We have created momentum which has lasted until now. It’s with us and
we have to make the most of it, even until the last day of the tour.”
Ten
of the 13 Indian players who appeared in the one-day series are in the
T20 squad, while eight of South Africa’s squad played in the one-day
games.
With a Test series against Australia starting on March 1,
South Africa have rested all their likely Test players with the
exception of AB de Villiers.
De Villiers, who was once himself
described by Kohli as the best batsman in the world, had a poor one-day
series in comparison to his Indian Premier League teammate, making only
62 runs in three innings and needs to find his best form ahead of the
Tests against Australia.
A key for South Africa will be to master
Indian wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, who took a
combined 33 wickets in the one-day games.
SQUADS
South Africa:
JP Duminy (captain), Farhaan Behardien, Junior Dala, AB de Villiers,
Reeza Hendricks, Christiaan Jonker, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), David
Miller, Chris Morris, Dane Paterson, Aaron Phangiso, Andile Phehlukwayo,
Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit
Sharma (vice-captain), Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan,
MS Dhoni (wkt), Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar,
Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Lokesh Rahul, Suresh Raina,
Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat
Fixtures
* February 18, Johannesburg
* February 21, Centurion
* February 24, Cape Town
India captain Virat Kohli capped an exceptional personal performance by hitting 129 not out in the sixth ODI against South Africa in Centurion on Friday, taking his aggregate to a world bilateral one-day series record of 558 runs at an average of 186. (AFP)