The sight of the SuperSport Park would have bought happy memories for Virat Kohli going into the ongoing Boxing Day Test match between India and South Africa. It was at this ground during India’s tour of the rainbow nation in 2018 that Kohli hit a marvelous knock of 153.
Despite India losing that match, it was a knock that was widely applauded by the cricket fratentiny around the globe. Many claim that to be one of Kohli’s best ever knocks in the longest format of the game.
Ex-Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar has revealed the story behind Kohli’s epic knock and how his preparation laid the roots for his brilliant performance in the second Test of the series after failure in the first game.
Talking on commentary in the ongoing Test match for Star Sports, Bangar said, “It was a fabulous innings in Centurion. In the first Test match in second innings [first innings actually], the way Virat got out was caught behind against Morne Morkel. During the course of that dismissal it seemed his backfoot was going towards the leg side. When you mention that to a batter of his calibre, it certainly hurts the ego. Which probably spurred him, when he entered the nets session at Centurion.”
“We were very sure – because of the kind of history that was there in India-SA series because when they toured India we played on very, very turning tracks and one of them was blacklisted by ICC – about the kind of pitches we were going to encounter. So when he got into the nets, he asked the throwdown specialists to hurl the ball at him as fast as they can,” he added.
Banger went to recall how Kohli was hit on the body but continued asking for deliveries to be hurled at a fast pace to him. “The first couple of deliveries, hit him on the gloves…then one hit him on the helmet. We asked if he still wanted to continue at that pace. He said ‘no matter how many times I get hit, I want them to hurl the balls at me as fast as they could.’ That is the sign of what was to happen in the next Test. Kind of stuff that legends are made of,” said Bangar.
Despite Kohli’s wonderful knock, India lost the Test match by 135 runs and went 2-0 down in the three-match series. However, Kohli & Co. won the third Test match of the series and registered a consolation victory.
