We gave Virat Kohli āsilent treatmentā and it helped, reveals Faf du Plessis
South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis has revealed how his side kept the dangerous Virat Kohli silent when they hosted India earlier this year. He, however, admitted that it didnāt stop Kohli from scoring runs although the damage was restricted as South Africa won the Test series 2-1.
If there would one Indian player, who can single-handedly destroy the Australian team, it would be Virat Kohli. The Indian skipper has been in an invincible form in the last two years, breaking every record and voodoo thrown at him. After all the talks about hisĀ previous failure on the English soil, Kohli managed to make 593 runs in the five-match series.
It was followed by a brief breather from the Asia Cup, where Kohli didnāt play. However, on his return to the game against Windies, Kohli picked up his from exactly where he had left it with three back-to-back hundreds in the One-day International series. Against an already weakened Australia side, Kohli would only impose himself more and Du Plessis has advised the Kangaroos not to confront him during the series to escape his wrath.
"There are guys like that in international cricket (who enjoy the confrontation). We feel like that when we play against someone like Virat Kohli, he wants to get into the fight.
Despite South Africa being calm and witty about the whole Virat Kohli situation, Kohli could still make 286 runs in the three-match Test series at an average of 47.66, and Plessis heaped praise on the batsman for that.Ā
"He's an amazing player. We gave him the silent treatment and he still scored runs in South Africa, but we felt like it was not huge runs - he scored the one hundred there in Centurion when the wicket was slow. So every team will have what they think works - for us, that was silent treatment," the Protea added.