Test cricket

Faf: India too reliant on Kohli

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Virat Kohli of India celebrates his 100

Proteas captain Faf du Plessis believes India rely too heavily on star batsman Virat Kohli. 

South Africa went 2-0 up in the three-match series on Wednesday with a 135-run win at Centurion. It was a complete team effort from Du Plessis’ troops, who put in excellent performances with the bat, the ball and in the field.

The Proteas’ first innings saw Aiden Markram (94), Hashim Amla (82) and Dean Elgar (63) help the Proteas to reach 335.

India’s reply was led by Kohli, whose 153 guided them to within 28 runs of South Africa and Murali Vijay’s 46 was the only other worthwhile contribution.

South Africa’s second-innings saw another three batsmen contribute to the total where Elgar (61) and AB de Villiers (80) were the stars, while Du Plessis chipped in with a handy 48.

India’s second innings was woeful as they were bowled out for 158. Only Rohit Sharma contributed for the visitors with a gutsy 47, as the rest of the batting unit collapsed.

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Du Plessis claimed it was their togetherness as a team that earned them their victory.

‘Everyone chipped in,’ he said. ‘We feel, as the opposition, that India are very reliant on Virat to score runs. So that’s the difference. AB, Dean, Aiden and I’ve scored runs.’

‘The first Test was bowling-friendly conditions where both teams bowled well. But in this Test, on a wicket which did not suit seam bowling, the areas our bowlers bowled were fantastic.

‘We have a little more pace which helps – they have two guys, we have three plus Vernon [Philander] – which offers us more control. The difference between us and them is that we don’t just rely on one guy. As a team we have been better.’

Kohli acknowledged South Africa’s superiority.

‘In Test cricket, it doesn’t matter where you play; we were also beaten at home. These conditions were something we were used to playing in and we should have certainly done better than we have,’ he said.

‘Having said that, Test cricket is about which team is collectively better and as I mentioned quite a few times, South Africa collectively were a much better team than us, regardless of the pitches we played on.

‘Their bowlers put immense pressure on us as a batting unit. Their batsmen, after losing a few wickets, were also stringing together a few partnerships. They showed more character than us.’

Photo: Lee Warren/Gallo Images