“You can't attack a good player” - Fanie de Villiers on how South Africa can tackle Virat Kohli during Test series 

Former South African fast bowler Fanie de Villiers reckons that the Proteas will have to play the waiting game against Virat Kohli during the Test series and force him to commit mistakes by bowling in the channel.

India will take on South Africa in a two-match Test series, which will begin with the Boxing Day Test at the SuperSport Park in Centurion. Kohli will be one of the main batters of India again under challenging conditions. The 35-year-old has an impressive Test record in South Africa. In seven matches, he has scored 719 runs at an average of 51.35 with two centuries.

In an interview with PTI, De Villiers opined that South African bowlers will have to be patient in their battle against Kohli.

"Only way to get a Virat Kohli kind of batter out is a very orthodox way of bowling on the fourth stump channel and play a waiting game. And wait for that one delivery which nips a bit far away. You can't attack a good player," he said.

The 59-year-old cited the example of Sachin Tendulkar to explain his point.

"Like in case of Tendulkar, it was silly to always wait for leg before (to an incoming delivery). Because he would hit you through mid-wicket. So bowl those deliveries outside off-stump (to Virat) and wait for one to either nip away or nip in,” the former pacer elaborated.

Kohli registered a highest score of 79 during India’s previous Test series in South Africa in 2021-22. India ended up losing the series 2-1.

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Kohli has returned home from South Africa due to family emergency: Reports

Meanwhile, according to another report in PTI, Kohli has returned home from South Africa due to a family emergency. While details of the emergency are not available, he is likely to rejoin the Indian Test squad ahead of the two-match series.

"Virat Kohli has returned to India due to a family emergency. But he will be back before start of the first Test. Virat had already left on Thursday and it was pre decided. Virat didn't take part in the three day intra-squad match where India and India A players took part,” a BCCI source was quoted as telling the news agency.

Kohli was the Player of the Match in the 2023 World Cup for scoring a record 765 runs in 11 innings at an average of 95.62 and a strike rate of 90.32.