Virat Kohli hopeful of India overcoming 'tough challenge' in South Africa

Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, India went on to win the second Test against New Zealand on Monday and thus, won the series as well. Their next assignment is against South Africa, which starts with the three-match Test series from December 26.

The confidence of the Indian players would definitely be on cloud nine, as they comprehensively beat the winners of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) by a huge margin of 372 runs. In terms of runs, this happens to be the biggest ever Test victory for India. It barely took 45 minutes for Kohli’s side to wrap up the proceedings, and pick the remaining five Kiwi wickets on day four in Mumbai.

With this series victory, India have now won their 14th straight Test series at home. Having said that, beating South Africa in their own den isn’t going to be easy.

Virat Kohli is hopeful of beating South Africa

During the post-match presentation, the Indian Test captain spoke about his side’s upcoming series against the Proteas. The 33-year-old felt that it was going to be a “tough challenge’. However, he was hopeful of the fact that his team would perform well.

“South Africa is a tough challenge and a win that we want to achieve as a team. Hopefully we can play in South Africa the way we know we can play, and win the series,” said Kohli. The batting maestro also highlighted the fact that his team needs to maintain their high standards in their upcoming tour to South Africa.

“The mindset is the same to take Indian cricket forward, even with the new management. It’s important to keep the standards of Indian cricket and make sure it’s always growing. South Africa is a good challenge. We built it up in England and South Africa last time, and Australia was an accumulation of all that experience,” he added.

The first of the three-match Test series is all set to commence on December 26. The squad is set to be announced soon for the tour. While the regulars who weren’t there during the series against New Zealand are all set to return, a few tough calls are expected to be made as well.