Former South African captain Faf du Plessis made a massive revelation involving the former Indian captain Virat Kohli from India’s Test tour of South Africa in 2018. Notably, the duo played together for several seasons at the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the IPL.
Speaking on the Prakhar Gupta Podcast, the former South African batter recalled the Wanderers Test, where batting had become extremely difficult due to the challenging pitch. As deliveries regularly struck batters, Kohli urged his teammates to stay calm and refrain from reacting, even when they were hit on the head.
“I remember a Test match at Wanderers, and the pitch was dangerous, really dangerous. Dean (Elgar) got hit on the head by a length delivery. I thought, ‘Someone could die out here today.’ It felt extremely dangerous because the ball could hit you on the throat, and there was a lot of pace in the wicket,” Faf revealed.
“India were slightly ahead in the game, so what would any captain in a stronger position do? He would say, ‘Let’s continue playing.’ The captain whose team was behind would say, ‘Let’s call off the game.’ The message to the Indian batters was clear: even if you got hit on the glove, hand, head, or throat, don’t show any reaction because the game might get called off,” he added.
“They were hit many times. However, there was a toughness instilled by the way he played the game. We always talk about leaders who lead from the front. Your actions are far more powerful than your words,” he concluded.
India went on to win that contest by 63 runs, while South Africa sealed the three-game Test series 2-1. The Wanderers pitch was rated “poor” by the ICC, which saw heavy criticism from the cricket fraternity and received three demerit points.
