‘Bowl him up…’ Ab de Villiers explains how to get Virat Kohli out during the IND vs. SA series
Virat Kohli has played seven Test matches on South African soil. The batsman has amassed 719 runs at an excellent average of 51.35.
New Delhi: South African legend and former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) player AB de Villiers has opened up on how to dismiss veteran batsman Virat Kohli during the Test series between India and South Africa, starting on December 26.
India’s most experienced batsman, Virat Kohli, played seven Test matches on South African soil. The batsman has amassed 719 runs at an excellent average of 51.35.
Speaking about Kohli, former RCB player AB de Villiers said there is only one way for the South African bowling line-up to get him out in the Test series.
Speaking to PTI, De Villiers said Kohli can edge a ball only if someone persists on the fourth stump line and hopes the ball does something off the field, which could land Kohli in trouble.
“The only way to get a Virat Kohli type batsman out is a very orthodox style of bowling on the fourth stump channel and playing a waiting game. And wait for that one delivery which is a bit far away,” De Villiers told PTI.
“You can’t attack a good player, he was straight,” De Villiers told PTI during an exclusive interview ahead of the Boxing Day Test starting December 26.
Former South African captain de Villiers also compared Kohli to legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. de Villiers said that like Sachin, it is extremely difficult to get out of Kohli.
“Like in Tendulkar’s case, it was foolish to always wait on one leg (for an incoming delivery). Because he would hit you at mid-wicket. So throw those deliveries outside off-stump (to Virat) and wait for one to cut away or nip in,” De Villiers concluded.
Earlier, Men in Blue completed their white-ball tour of South Africa with a win. India managed to draw the T20I series 1-1 as one match was wiped out. In the ODI series, India won 2-1. India have never won a Test series in South Africa and Rohit Sharma’s men will look to change their fortunes this time.
The last time India played a Test series in South Africa was in December 2021-January 2022. Back then, India won the first Test in Centurion, before South Africa bounced back to win matches in Johannesburg and Cape Town to ultimately claim the series 2. -1.
India Test Team: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat (wk) KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.