A 37-year-old Virat Kohli brushed aside concerns about his form being a one-format player on international stage with a belligerent 135-run knock in first ODI against South Africa in the series. Following Kohli’s 52nd ODI century, former South Africa pacer Dale Steyn hailed his former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate. Steyn feels that Kohli showed he is mentally and physically strong while most 38-year-olds are reluctant to leave the comfort of their home.
“He’s played over 300 ODIs in 15–16 years, so the experience is inside him. It’s in his body and mind. Even if he arrived here after three days of rain, it wouldn’t have affected his preparation. He’s mentally strong, visualises well, and can see the ball onto the bat. That’s what the best in the world do. They back themselves because they’ve been out there so many times,” Steyn said on JioStar.
“A key thing he said is that he’s excited about playing. When you speak to most 37 or 38-year-olds, they say they hate leaving home, their dog, their kids. But he’s in a place mentally where he’s eager to be out there playing for India. You can see it when he’s running between the wickets, fielding and diving. He’s mentally young, fresh, and wants to be here,” he added.
Steyn loves to watch ‘fantastic’ Rohit bat
Steyn also lauded opener Rohit Sharma who scored 57 runs from 51 balls. He lauded Rohit’s reading of the game during the 136-run partnership for the second wicket with Kohli.
“He batted beautifully. He gave one opportunity to Tony de Zorzi, could have been a different situation, but he capitalised well after that. He loves those cover drives and flicks, comes down the wicket when he wants to, and puts bowlers under pressure. One particular shot summed up his innings for me: third man was up, point was up, and he just guided the ball delicately past short third man for four. It caught everyone off guard. He was reading the game superbly. He’s a fantastic batter. I love watching him, even though I never got him out,” the 42-year-old said.
Rohit hit three sixes in his half-century, breaking Shahid Afridi’s all-time record for most sixes in ODIs. As the ODI series progresses, there are a few more feats to achieved by the senior duo.