AFP, Johannesburg :
Indian captain Virat Kohli, labelled the best batsman in the world by head coach Ravi Shastri, wants his team to rise to one more challenge before they finish their gruelling South African tour.
“The tour is not over,” said Kohli ahead of a three-match Twenty20 series starting at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday.
After leading India to a crushing 5-1 one-day international series victory to compensate for a 2-1 Test series defeat to the South Africans, Kohli said India were still hungry for success.
“That is the frame of mind we are in and we are looking forward to the T20s now,” he said.
Kohli capped an exceptional personal performance by hitting 129 not out in the sixth one-day international in Centurion on Friday, taking his aggregate to a world bilateral one-day series record of 558 runs at an average of 186.
Shastri lauded Kohli’s leadership and his batting skills: “I’ve seen him batting across all conditions, all formats. It’s not just averages, it’s the way you get runs, when you get it and then to back those runs up on what the team does.
“I would safely say he is the best batsman in the world.”
Asked whether he considered himself the best, Kohli told journalists: “I am not competing with anyone. I only look to help my team. If you are thinking about the team special things happen.
