'It'll be the last chance for Kohli to prove himself' – Danish Kaneria ahead of India's South Africa tour

Virat Kohli is one of the most controversial figures in Indian cricket at this time. His rift with BCCI is out in the open after his recent press conference. In the past couple of months, a series of events have led to the downfall of the former Indian captain, and South Africa’s tour will be crucial for Kohli as a captain and as a player.

Danish Kaneria, the former Pakistani spinner, thinks that it is Kohli’s last chance to prove his worth as the captain of the Indian cricket team. On his YouTube channel, Kaneria said, “For Virat Kohli, it’s a very big tour because India’s never won a [Test] series in South Africa. They’ve won in England and Australia but this time in South Africa, it will be Virat Kohli’s last chance as captain (to win a series in SA). He has got to score runs with the bat, he has got to make his team win, and he has to prove himself on the tour especially after the way the BCCI kicked him out (of the ODI captaincy).”

Before the second leg of IPL 2021, Kohli announced that he would be stepping down from the captaincy position after that season. Also, T20 World Cup 2021 was his last campaign as the captain of the Indian team in the shortest format of the game. At the time of announcing the team for the South Africa tour, BCCI made Rohit Sharma the captain of the Indian ODI squad, and hence, Kohli is only left to lead the Test squad.

Kohli has achieved a lot as the captain of the Indian Test team. He has a win percentage of 59.09, which is the highest among all his predecessors, thus, making him the most successful captain for India in Test cricket. Under his leadership, India has won the Test series in Australia and England.

However, the Proteas is one country where the Indian team has failed continuously. Since 1992, the Indian team had lost all the Test series except in 2010-11, when the series ended in a draw. The upcoming series is Kohli’s second tour to the rainbow nation as the captain. Under his leadership, India lost the last series by a margin of 2-1.