Kohli rejoins Team India ahead of first Test against SA

Stalwart batter Virat Kohli has rejoined the Indian red-ball squad in South Africa ahead of the Boxing Day Test at Centurion against the Proteas, according to sources. Earlier this week, a BCCI source revealed that Kohli returned to India due to personal reasons and now is in contention to make his first on-field appearance on December 26, after the World Cup final heartbreak last month. The two-match Test series will be a part of the World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle. As of now, India are at the top of the WTC table, with a win and a draw, giving them a total of 66.67 points percentage. He will be a crucial figure for India as he was the nation’s leading run scorer during the last WTC cycle with 932 runs from 30 innings and has already netted a century and a fifty from his side’s two completed Tests against the West Indies to begin the 2023-2025 cycle. This year in seven Tests, Virat has scored 557 runs at an average of 55.70, with two centuries and a fifty. His best score is 186. The champion right-hander is also coming off a prosperous ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup on home soil as he scored a whopping 765 runs, including three centuries and six fifties, claiming the Player of the Tournament award. Virat has an excellent record against the red ball in South Africa, with the 35-year-old having scored two of his 29 Test centuries against the Proteas away from home. It is also one of only three countries where Kohli can boast an average greater than 50, with his healthy average of 51.35 only bettered in Australia and at home in India. In all, Virat has scored 719 runs in seven Tests in SA, which includes two centuries and three fifties. The last time India travelled to South Africa they fell to a 2-1 series defeat during the last WTC cycle.