IND vs SA Live: Vikram Rathour very happy with Kohli – India Test skipper Virat Kohli returned from injury to score a fighting 79 but India’s batting overall offered a flop show. South Africa bowled India out for 223 at Newlands, Cape Town in the 3rd Test. India’s batting coach Vikram Rathour said he was impressed with Kohli but called out India’s poor batting. Follow India vs South Africa Live Updates on InsideSport.IN.
- Kohli played his first cover drive after facing 16 deliveries.
- He had 89 dot balls in his innings.
- The Indian Test captain came into this game with the murmurs over his form growing louder – 652 runs in 14 Tests at an average of 26 in the last two years and no century.
The Indian team batting coach Vikram Rathour spoke about it at the end of the day’s play. “One good change today was that he was more disciplined. I agree with that. He looked really good, really solid. With more luck, he could have converted this into a big one,” Rathour told reporters.
“There was never a concern with the way Virat was batting, he was batting well. As a batting coach, I was never concerned that he is not batting well. He was looking very good in the nets and very good in the games also. He was getting starts. I am happy with the way he played today,” Vikram Rathour said at the virtual press conference at the end of Day 1’s play.
IND vs SA Live: Vikram Rathour very happy with Virat Kohli’s knock but says ‘We were below par in batting overall’
Virat Kohli records in 3rd Test:
- He overtook Rahul Dravid as the second-highest scorer against South Africa.
- He smashed his first Test six in 26 innings.
- The six was his first in overseas condition since 2018.
- 79 was his highest in the last 27 innings since his century in 2019.
IND vs SA Live: Vikram Rathour very happy with Virat Kohli’s knock but says ‘We were below par in batting overall’
That will be STUMPS on Day 1 of the 3rd Test.
South Africa 17/1, trail #TeamIndia (223) by 206 runs.
Scorecard – https://t.co/9V5z8QBOjM #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/PZx8Lil2gM
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 11, 2022
Uncharacteristically, Virat Kohli was slow. In fact, he brought up the second slowest fifty of his career, scoring at a 39.30 strike rate. However, it was the demand of the hour. As India kept losing wickets, he played the waiting game, going after loose balls. With Kohli struggling to score runs, it was expected and Rathour said the star batsman made a few adjustments to his batting.
“There are always a few adjustments here and there. No major changes, I do not think when you are playing international cricket, you can make technical adjustments, not any technical changes definitely. Pujara has gone to legside in his stance and that has helped him a little bit,” Vikram Rathour said.
IND vs SA Live: Vikram Rathour very happy with Virat Kohli’s knock but says ‘We were below par in batting overall’
However, Vikram Rathour was not happy with India’s batting performance. Apart from Kohli’s 79 and Cheteshwar Pujara’s 43, there was not a score to write home about. In fact, it was another batting collapse that India have seen since the England tour.
“These are challenging conditions, they are not easy to score runs but we are below par even today. We should have scored at least 50-60 runs more, that’s what we were expecting. That’s the thing, Virat played a phenomenal inning, Pujara was looking good but then they bowled a good spell, conditions were overcast, it was challenging for batting. But there were some soft dismissals in the latter part of the innings,” Vikram Rathour said.
At stumps on Day 1, South Africa’s score read 17/1 with the hosts still trailing by 206 runs. Aiden Markram (8*) and Keshav Maharaj (6*) are currently unbeaten at the crease for the hosts. Jasprit Bumrah took Dean Elgar’s wicket before the close of play.
IND vs SA Live: Vikram Rathour very happy with Virat Kohli’s knock but says ‘We were below par in batting overall’
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