India Test captain Virat Kohli displayed a rare side of him as he scored 79 off 201 balls on the opening day of the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town. The skipper who was dismissed previously while trying to nudge balls going wide of the off stump, showed more discipline with his shot selection, a fact which was also highlighted by Vikram Rathour, team’s batting coach, after the close of play.
Kohli’s gritty display helped India reach 223/10 in their first innings. Such was his composure that the Indian captain looked onset towards ending his century drought, however, he failed to do so after running out of partners.
Impressed with the Kohli’s display, former cricketer Gautam Gambhir said that the captain kept his ego aside, before adding that he waited for the poor balls instead of launching at every delivery.
“Virat has said many times that when you go to England, you should leave behind your ego in India. Today, Virat Kohli left behind his ego in the kit bag and this knock reminds me of his very succesful tour of England, where he got beaten many times but left a lot of deliveries outside off-stump,” said Gambhir while reviewing the first day’s play on Star Sports.
“Today, in the same way, he left deliveries outside off-stump, he got beaten as well but kept his ego with himself. He did not try to dominate the bowlers on every delivery,” he added.
In response to India’s first-inning total, South Africa reached 17/1 at stumps and lost the crucial wicket of captain Dean Elgar. Aiden Markram along with night-watchman Keshav Maharaj will resume South Africa’s charge on Day 2.