Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra has heaped praise on Virat Kohli after India won the third ODI against South Africa comprehensively by nine wickets at Vizag on Saturday. With this win, India clinched the three-match series by 2-1.
Kohli continued his rich form, scoring a fine knock of 65 runs off just 45 balls with the help of six fours and three sixes in the run chase of 271. The Indian veteran batter added 116 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal to take India over the line.
Kohli was awarded Player of the Series after he scored 302 runs in three matches at an average of 151 and a strike rate of 117.05.
“What is Kohli doing? Is baar to gundagardi thi (It was hooliganism this time). Virat, obviously, couldn’t have scored a century this time because the runs weren’t enough, but how well he batted. The one no-look six he hit, I mean what sort of enmity has he developed with Corbin Bosch? He hit him a lot,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
The renowned commentator praised Kohli for adopting an aggressive approach in the ODI series.
“He has made 50-plus scores in four consecutive matches, and it includes two centuries. He has gotten onto some kind of serious form, and that is such a heartening sight, because when Virat Kohli starts playing like this, there is no other player like him. It was domination, decimation, and destruction. It was explosive batting,” he observed.
On the other hand, former Indian wicket-keeper bat Parthiv Patel also lauded Virat Kohli’s consistent performances in the three-match series.
“It has been an amazing series for Virat Kohli. He struck two centuries in the first two matches and then an unbeaten knock was seen in the third innings. The way he is batting, it seems like the vintage Virat is back. Obviously, a little struggle was seen in Australia, but he scored a half-century in the third innings,” Patel said on Star Sports.
The former Gujarat captain said people expect Kohli to score a century in every match he plays for the country.
“After that, he started here from where he left off in that series. From India’s perspective, when he plays only one format, people want Virat to score a century in every match, and this was that kind of series. Hopefully, this form will remain when the New Zealand series comes,” Parthiv observed.
India will next take on South Africa in a five-match T20I series against South Africa.
