The highly-anticipated two-match Test series between India and South Africa is all set to get underway on December 26 at SuperSport Park in Centurion.

The red-ball series will mark Virat Kohli’s return to competitive action. The batting stalwart was enjoying a break after the hectic World Cup 2023 campaign.

Ahead of the opening Test, Proteas players like Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada expressed their admiration for Kohli.

The star Indian batter boasts an impressive Test record on South African soil, amassing 719 runs from seven matches at an average of 51.35 with two centuries.

Speaking to Star Sports, several South African players talked about the greatness of Virat Kohli.

“The biggest threat in the Indian batting line-up. Think you obviously can’t rule out a guy like Virat Kohli. He’s played here in South Africa quite a number of times, so he would say that he understands the conditions,” skipper Bavuma said.

South Africa’s pace spearhead Rabada stated that he always enjoys his battle with the great batter.

“It’s always great playing against great players. Virat is a great player. He’s had quite some success against us, but at the same time, we’ve had success against him. It’s a battle that I look forward to always, when you measure yourself up against the best. That’s the reason why you play,” he remarked.

Markram hailed Kohli as a fierce competitor and lauded his hunger and competitive nature.

“He’s a fierce competitor. We might not always be the most skillful people, but it’s about trying to fight out, compete, have more hunger than those guys that we play against. Virat speaks to those characteristics as well.”

While praising Kohli, left-arm spinner Maharaj mentioned that a player cannot average 50 after playing 100 Tests without being someone special.

“He knows his Test cricket game. He scored runs for numerous amount of years and the amount of centuries he has got… It’s just about making sure that you can be better than him on the day. [Playing against] someone of his caliber, it’s a best way to gauge yourself in terms of where you are with your game. Someone doesn’t just average 50 overnight playing over 100 Test matches for the country,” he stated.

Virat Kohli has represented India in 111 Tests so far, aggregating 8676 runs at an average of 49.33 with 29 hundreds and as many half-centuries.