India captain Virat Kohli is undoubtedly having the time of his life in South Africa. Following the disappointment of losing the first two Tests of the tour and the series 2-1, India have bounced back to clinch the six-match ODI series 5-1 and win the first of the three-match T20I series. And it is the inspirational Kohli who has been at the forefront of India's dominance.
The 29-year-old Kohli, arguably the best batsman in the world across all forms of the game, has hit four hundreds and two fifties in 10 games so far in South Africa.
Kohli's dominant run began in the Test series, amassing 286 runs with one hundred and a fifty, and a highest score of 153.
Kohli showed his true colours in the ODI series where he scored a staggering 558 runs at an average of 186. Kohli, who is just 14 tons away from breaking batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI hundreds, slammed three centuries and one fifty in the six matches and led India to their maiden win in a bilateral series in South Africa.
Kohli's run tally of 558 runs made him the first ever batsman to score 500 runs in a bilateral series.
With the tour moving to its last stage - the three-match T20I series - Kohli and his team didn't let the momentum break and won the first T20I by 28 runs to grab a 1-0 lead. In the first T20I in Johannesburg, Kohli scored 26 runs taking his total on the South Africa tour to 870.
India are now just one win away from winning the T20I series and Kohli is just 130 runs short of becoming the second batsman to score 1,000 or more runs on an international tour.
West Indian great Viv Richards is the only batsman to score 1,000 or more runs on an international tour, achieving the milestone in England in 1976, when he hammered a total of 1,045 runs.
Meanwhile, former India opener Virender Sehwag told India TV that Kohli may break Tendulkar's record of 100 international centuries, provided he continues to enjoy his game.
"Earlier, people used to say that there can't be another player like Sachin. The same can be said for Kohli now. In his career, he'll definitely break some of the records set by Sachin," Sehwag told India TV during the show 'Cricket Ki Baat'.
"He can break Sachin's record of 100 international tons," the 39-year-old added with sheer confidence in his voice.
