Kohli eyes history in South Africa: India Test captain aims to surpass Dravid, Ponting to script plethora of records

India will play three Test matches in South Africa, starting from December 26, and it will offer Virat Kohli enough opportunity to return to his destructive best of piling runs and rewriting history as a plethora of records awaits the Indian Test captain.

India Test captain Virat Kohli will look to return to his destructive best of piling runs and rewriting history as his unit are all set to play a three-match Test series against South Africa, starting from December 26 in Centurion. When the 33-year-old had last visited the Centurion, hailed as the fortress of the South African cricket team, he became the only captain in world cricket to score a Test ton at the venue, scoring a magnificent 153. Almost four years hence, he will be be back at the SuperSport Park, with renewed determination, eager to answer back critics questioning his form and his off-field controversial remarks in style. India vs South Africa Live Score 1st Test

Virat Kohli (HT_PRINT)

Breaking the century drought

Throughout the last 762 days, which dates back to the morning after November 23,2019, there has been one question that has kept Indian cricket fans busy ahead of every international series - when will Virat Kohli score his next century, the one that has eluded him for more than two years now? With much of captaincy burden off his shoulders and with the off-field controversy at stake, the two might just rightfully combine to bring out the best of Kohli, who has long been waiting to inch another step closer to Sachin Tendulkar's mighty 100 centuries record.

A 28th Test century will take him past Steve Smith to the 15th spot, tied with Hashim Amla and Michael Clarke in the all-time list for Test cricket. It will also take his international tally to 71 across formats, placing him joint-second alongside Australian great Ricky Ponting while also surpassing the former Aussie skipper to take the top spot for the most tons in cricket as international captain, taking his tally to 42.

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Reaching 8000 Test runs, 4000 runs away from home

Standing only 199 runs behind, Kohli will aim to become the 33rd batsman to reach the milestone of 8000 runs in Test cricket and sixth from India. If he can reach the feat within the first two Tests, he will become the joint fourth-fastest Indian to the milestone alongside Sunil Gavaskar. Kohli is presently on 7801 runs in 164 innings. Kohli also stands 22 runs short of becoming the sixth Indian to amass 4000 runs in Test cricket away from home and needs 55 runs to become India's fifth-highest run-getter on that list, surpassing Sourav Ganguly.

Surpassing Dravid, Sehwag

In 12 Tests against South Africa, Kohli has scored 1075 runs and hence stands 231 runs short of becoming India's second-highest run-getter in the rivalry contest, surpassing Rahul Dravid (1252 runs) and Virender Sehwag (1306 runs). Sachin sits top of the list with 1741 runs in 25 Tests against South Africa.

100th Test

If not the first, Kohli is guaranteed to script one century in the upcoming series, unless struck by an injury. With 97 appearances in Test career, Kohli will become the 16th Indian to play 100th Test when India will play the final tie of the series in Cape Town.

The one that matters

The upcoming series is being deemed as India's best chance to break the South African jinx and hence for Kohli, the one milestone or record that will matter the most is the Test series victory that will make him the first Indian captain to lead the nation to a series win in the rainbow nation. In seven previous tours, since their maiden visit in 1992, India have lost six and one ended in a draw. The win will also make Kohli the second Asian captain to win a Test series in South Africa after Dimuth Karunaratne-led Sri Lanka had blanked the hosts in a two-Test series in 2018/19.