‘Virat Kohli knows our conditions and..’- Star South African speedster heaps praises of Virat Kohli after his performance in first Test against South Africa

It would not be wrong to say that the Indian batting squad was underprepared heading into the Test match. They were completely blown away by some fiery and disciplined bowling from the South Africa team. In the first Test, the World Ranked number 1 side saw a humiliating loss to the Proteas by an innings and 32 runs.

Especially, when the Indian team were trailing in the second innings, they were left clueless by some disciplined bowling from South African pacers. Apart from Virat Kohli (76) and Shubman Gill (26), none of the Indian batters even managed to score in double digits. After delivering a deciding spell in the first innings, Kagiso Rabada came up with praises for former India skipper Virat Kohli.

Rabada, who recently completed his 500 International wickets, acknowledged Kohli for his heroics. The 28-year-old even said that Virat is well aware of the conditions that are being offered in South Africa. He even said that in the recent past, the talismanic batter has done well while playing in South Africa. Rabada even went on to acknowledge that the legendary Indian batter is the backbone of the Indian batting lineup.

“Virat Kohli knows our conditions and has done well. He’s the backbone of the Indian team,” Kagiso Rabada said at a press conference after the game.

Rohit Sharma dismissed to Rabada 14 times

India team captain Rohit Sharma faced another dismissal by Kagiso Rabada. This time in the first innings of the opening Test match in Centurion on Tuesday. To add to it, he even experienced a similar fate on Thursday in India’s second innings. After he was dismissed by Rabada yet again, this time for a duck. Rohit Sharma has consistently struggled against Kagiso Rabada, who has become a prominent adversary across all formats.

The South African paceman has now taken Rohit’s wicket a total of 14 times across different formats. It marks him the highest count by any bowler. Out of the 14 dismissals against Rabada, seven have occurred in Test cricket. Rabada emerged as Rohit’s toughest challenge among fast bowlers in Test cricket.

The South African premier pacer claimed Rohit’s wicket five times in ODI cricket and twice in T20Is. In Test innings, Australian spinner Nathan Lyon has dismissed Rohit Sharma nine times in 18 innings, whereas Rabada has bowled in 10 Test innings against Rohit.