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Cricket Players'Is Virat invincible? No': Donald gives his verdict on Kohli's 'slump', makes big prediction regarding star India batter
Former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald has given his opinion on Virat Kohli's form and made a big prediction regarding the former India captain.
In his first match for India since giving up captaincy in all formats, Virat Kohli looked like a million bucks while batting. In the first ODI between India and South Africa in Paarl, Kohli scored a polished knock of 51 off 63 balls. It was a sedate knock, which included only three boundaries but despite it, Kohli had a strike-rate of over 80 to boast.
It looked as if century number 71 was on the cards, but just when it looked like would break the hundred jinx and bring up his 44th ODI ton, Kohli played a sweep shot that went straight to Temba Bavuma. Kohli’s dismissal triggered a collapse from which India could not recover and went on to lose the game by 31 runs.
However, not all went south for Kohli, as former South Africa pacer Allan Donald feels the former India skipper is on the road to rediscovering his best. Impressed with the way Kohli batted in the Cape Town Test, scoring a brilliant 79 in the first innings – very similar to his monk-like approach in Paarl on Wednesday - Donald felt South Africa bowled well to Kohli, which is the reason behind Kohli showing a lot of patience in his batting.
"I'm not sure if Virat was exposed technically, but South Africa hammered away at the basic areas and let the pitch do the business when bowling to him. The bowlers piled on the basic pressure really well.
Weighing in on Kohli’s future, Donald made a huge statement. Known as ‘White Lightening’ during his playing days, Donald mentioned that Kohli’s slight dip in form is nothing former greats haven’t endured. Giving example of Smith’s compatriot, Steve Smith, the former South Africa quick mentioned that every batter evolves after a lean patch and feels it won’t take long before Kohli is back to his belligerent best.
"Is Virat invincible? No. But even the greatest have gone through a slump, as the game is a great leveller. Even Steve Smith hasn't really been on fire since his comeback after the ball-tampering issue. I know Virat's standards and I'm sure he will be back at some point. It won't take long," added Donald.
