Virat Kohli has to prove himself on the South Africa tour: Danish Kaneria

Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria believes India’s Test captain Virat Kohli will need to prove himself on the upcoming tour of South Africa.

Kohli hasn’t been in the best of forms in the last couple of years as he scored his last International century back in 2019 and since then he hasn’t got to the three-digit mark.

Kaneria reckons it will be imperative for Virat Kohli to prove his mettle especially after he has been sacked as the ODI captain by the BCCI. Kohli is well known to give his 120% on the field and he will look to deliver the goods for the team on the tour of South Africa.

Kohli stated in the Wednesday presser that there won’t any dip in his motivation to play for the national team after he was sacked as ODI captain.

“For Virat Kohli, it’s a very big tour because India’s never won a [Test] series in South Africa. They’ve won in England and Australia but this time in South Africa, it will be Virat Kohli’s last chance as captain (to win a series in SA). He has got to score runs with the bat, he has got to make his team win, and he has to prove himself on the tour especially after the way the BCCI kicked him out (of the ODI captaincy),” said Kaneria on his YouTube Channel.

Kohli has always been a consistent performer for the Indian team and he will look to be at his absolute best in the upcoming tour. As Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have not been in the best of forms in the recent past and Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja being ruled out due to respective injuries, the onus will be on Virat Kohli to come up with the goods as he has all the experience under his belt.

Kohli had a good run in the 2017-18 Test series against South Africa as he had scored 286 runs in three Test matches and had finished as the leading run-getter. Thus, Kohli will look to replicate the same kind of performance in the upcoming tour of South Africa.

Kohli has also revealed that he is available for the three-match ODI series against the Proteas. The first Test match between India and South Africa will be played at Centurion from December 26.