‘I used to look at screenshots of when we were ranked seventh’ – Virat Kohli recalls initial days of his Test captaincy

History will be on the line when Team India takes on South Africa in the third and final Test of the series. The encounter gets underway on Tuesday (January 11) at the Newlands in Cape Town. With the series being poised at 1-1, the Indian team has a chance of scripting their maiden Test series victory on South African soil.

In what can be called a major boost for the visitors, Virat Kohli has regained fitness and is raring to take the field in the deciding clash. The Indian skipper had missed the second Test due to an upper back spasm and KL Rahul had to lead the team. However, Kohli is back now and would leave no stones unturned to conquer the final frontier.

Virat Kohli took over as Test captain when India were seventh in rankings

Addressing the media on the eve of the game, Kohli recalled the initial days of captaincy in Test matches. Notably, the right-handed batter took over the charge from MS Dhoni in 2015 when India were the seventh-ranked Test team. However, Kohli changed his side’s fortunes and took them to the pinnacle of the table.

Recalling the same, Kohli said he used to look at screenshots of his side’s seventh position in his initial days. “When I took over as Test captain, I used to look at screenshots of when we were seven in the world,” Kohli said in the pre-match press conference.

Meanwhile, Kohli, who slammed his last international century back in November 2019, has been at his prime in the last couple of years. Acknowledging the same, Kohli said: “It’s not the first time. England 2014 is one of those phases. I don’t look at myself from the lenses that the outside world looks at me.”

“In sport sometimes things don’t go as you want but as a batsman I have been involved in important partnerships when the team needs me. I am in a position where people will judge me but I don’t look at myself like that,” he added.

Kohli also confirmed that pacer Mohammed Siraj, who sustained a hamstring injury during the second Test, hasn’t recovered completely and will give the final Test a miss. “I am absolutely fit but Siraj is not 100 percent fit and we don’t want to risk a fast bowler not being 100 percent fit,” said Kohli.