India’s Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli throughout a follow session ahead of the first Test cricket match between India and South Africa, in Centurion, South Africa, on December 24, 2023.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Stalwart batter Virat Kohli has rejoined the Indian red-ball squad in South Africa ahead of the Boxing Day Test at Centurion against the Proteas, in keeping with sources.
Earlier this week, a BCCI supply revealed that Kohli returned to India as a consequence of private causes and now could be in rivalry to make his first on-field look on December 26, after the World Cup remaining heartbreak final month.
The two-match Test sequence will likely be a component of the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle. As of now, India are on the high of the WTC desk, with a win and a draw, giving them a complete of 66.67 factors proportion.
He will likely be a vital determine for India as he was the nation’s main run scorer over the past WTC cycle with 932 runs from 30 innings and has already netted a century and a fifty from his facet’s two accomplished Tests against the West Indies to start the 2023-2025 cycle.
This 12 months in seven Tests, Virat has scored 557 runs at a median of 55.70, with two centuries and a fifty. His greatest rating is 186.
The champion right-hander can also be coming off a affluent ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup on residence soil as he scored a whopping 765 runs, together with three centuries and 6 fifties, claiming the Player of the Tournament award.
Virat has a wonderful document against the purple ball in South Africa, with the 35-year-old having scored two of his 29 Test centuries against the Proteas away from residence. It can also be one of solely three international locations the place Kohli can boast a median higher than 50, along with his wholesome common of 51.35 solely bettered in Australia and at residence in India. In all, Virat has scored 719 runs in seven Tests in SA, which incorporates two centuries and three fifties.
The final time India travelled to South Africa they fell to a 2-1 sequence defeat over the past WTC cycle.
