The South African conditions have always been challenging for the Indian team, but they played well above expectations on the 2018 tour. Team India lost the Test series, but they made a brilliant return in the ODIs by winning the series by 5-1. During a post-match conference, then-Indian captain, Virat Kohli, blasted on a journalist.
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The Indian team lost the initial two Test matches in Cape Town and Centurion, but they made a brilliant comeback in the 3rd Test in Johannesburg. After the Test series, a 6-match ODI series was played where the Indian team absolutely bossed the hosts. Kohli was at his best in the series.
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Kohli scored 558 runs in the series with the help of 3 centuries and 1 half-century. He was head and shoulders above any other batter. The Indian spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal just spun the web around the hosts, where they scalped 17 and 16 wickets, respectively.
When Virat Kohli slammed journalist for questioning quality of the South African ODI squad
Virat Kohli was furious over a journalist for questioning the achievement of the Indian team as the South African team consistently struggled with player availability during the ODI series. The players like Faf du Plessis, Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers could not play all the matches due to fitness concerns.
Kohli was adamant that it was not their headache what kind of team their opposition was fielding in the match as injuries are uncontrollable. He said that the Indian team played every match with the very same mindset, and they gave their best to make their country proud.
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“Whether the team was what it was supposed to be was not in our hands. It’s none of our concern. We want to take the best team as far as we can on the field and have the best mindset to perform on every given day that we represent our country. That remains our mindset regardless of what happens,” Virat Kohli had said in the press conference.
Virat Kohli on press and public opinions about him
Kohli also talked about how people’s perception doesn’t bother him as he only cares about what his team and management think about him. He insisted that the opinion of players and the press will change after his every inning, and he does not evaluate him like that. Kohli said that he never made excuses for his bad form.
“What matters is what the management thinks about me, what I think about the players and what the players think about me. That’s all that matters to me,” Virat Kohli had said in the press conference.
