India Vs South Africa 1st Test: Virat Kohli On Cusp Of Huge Milestone In Test Cricket, Can Break Rahul Dravid And Virender Sehwag's Record

Virat Kohli will be looking to make a strong statement with the bat after returning in national colours since the heartbreak in the World Cup final.

Virat Kohli. (Image: ANI)

All eyes will be on Virat Kohli when India meet South Africa in the two-match Test series which begins at Centurion on December 26. India are yet to register a Test series win over Proteas Men on their home soil and this is the best chance to make history. South African cricket is going through a trasition at the moment with Quinton de Kock aleady retired and Dean Elgar on his way out. There are injury concerns in the fast bowling department too for South Africa while India are almost at their full strength.

Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma are returning to the India playing 11 for the first time after the ODI World Cup 2023 final. The mood has to change in the Indian dressing room as India look to make history in South Africa and Rohit feels that winning something significant after the World Cup final loss is much-needed. He added that everyone in the camp is desperate to win something meaningful. 

Preps in full swing for the Boxing Day Test _#TeamIndia sharpen their fielding skills ahead of the first #SAvIND Test tomorrow in Centurion __ pic.twitter.com/SftEN2kDED— BCCI (@BCCI) December 25, 2023

Kohli had left the Indian camp after landing in South Africa with the members of the Test squad. Reports say he had gone to London to meet his daughter and wife. Kohli came bacl, two days before the Test, and had a long nets session straightaway. 

When Kohli takes the field on Tuesday, he may not have a huge record in his mind. But the truth is that he is near one. Kohli has played 14 Test matches in South Africa, amassinf 1236 runs so far at a brilliant average of 56.18. The batting maestro is the fourth-highest run-getter for India in Tests against South Africa. If Virat gets 16 more runs, he will get past his former colleague and how head coach Rahul Dravid's tally of 1252 runs. Dravid is the third in the list of Indian batters with most runs against Proteas Men. 

Also, if Kohli hits 70 more tuns in the possible four innings in this series, he will become the second-most run-getter for India against South Africa going past the great Virender Sehwag. The former opening batter had accumulated  1306 runs vs South Africa in 15 Tests. 

Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has most runs for India against South Africa and crossing him will take some doing even for Kohli. Tendulkar played 25 Tests vs South Africa, scoring 1741 runs at an average of 42.46. Virat needs 505 runs more to beat him to become the most successful Indian batter against South Africa in Tests.