IND vs SA LIVE: Virat Kohli pulls off epic rescue act on return – Indian captain Virat Kohli returned to the team in fine style after he ground out to score a fine half-century on Day 1 of the IND vs SA 3rd Test on Tuesday. Kohli, who has struggled for runs in the recent past, put in a Cheteshwar Pujara-like shift to get to a fifty on a difficult day for India. Incidentally, it is Kohli’s second-slowest half-century following a 172-ball effort earlier in his career. Follow Insidesport.in for all IND vs SA LIVE Updates.
IND vs SA LIVE: Virat Kohli pulls off epic rescue act on return, scores second slowest fifty of his career
Virat Kohli got to his first half-century of the new year as he returned to the playing XI in style for Team India on Tuesday. Coming into bat after India lost openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal cheaply, Kohli built up a vital partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara, before joining hands with Rishabh Pant to take India past the 150-mark after Tea.
Kohli won over his urge to play an expansive cover drive and left most of the wide deliveries in a great display of grit and patience. The Indian captain survived a threatening spell from Kagiso Rabada, but gave nothing away, holding on to his end.
IND vs SA LIVE: Virat Kohli pulls off epic rescue act on return, scores second slowest fifty of his career
Virat Kohli overtook Rahul Dravid to score second-most runs against South Africa. He has so far scored 651 runs in 7 matches with an average of 53.66 including two centuries and as many half-centuries. Rahul Dravid scored 624 runs in 11 matches. Sachin Tendulkar has scored the most runs against South Africa with 1161 runs in 15 matches.
| No | Player | Span | Mat | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | 100 | 50 | 4s | 6s |
| 1 | SR Tendulkar | 1992-2011 | 15 | 28 | 1161 | 169 | 46.44 | 5 | 3 | 172 | 5 |
| 2 | V Kohli | 2013-2022 | 7 | 13 | 651 | 153 | 53.66 | 2 | 2 | 80 | 1 |
| 3 | R Dravid | 1996-2011 | 11 | 22 | 624 | 148 | 29.71 | 1 | 2 | 83 | 0 |
| 4 | VVS Laxman | 1997-2011 | 10 | 18 | 566 | 96 | 40.42 | 0 | 4 | 76 | 2 |
| 5 | CA Pujara | 2010-2022 | 10 | 18 | 526 | 153 | 29.22 | 1 | 3 | 75 | 0 |
IND vs SA LIVE: Virat Kohli pulls off epic rescue act on return, scores second slowest fifty of his career
