South African bowling coach and pace legend Allan Donald said Virat Kohli’s “responsible” century in the ongoing opening Test reminded him of how the now-retired Sachin Tendulkar counter-attacked the Proteas during a Test match back in 1996.
“The one word that comes to my mind is responsibility,” he said, talking about India’s new No 4.
“He (Kohli) showed great discipline and responsibility. It reminded me of Sachin Tendulkar when they came here in 1996. I was the first one to say back in 1996 that India didn’t have much bottle.
“One person jumped out and played for the situation, played for his team, and that was Tendulkar. That’s what came to my mind when I saw Kohli batting,” Donald added yesterday after the opening day’s play in the ongoing first Test here.
Donald said Kohli’s ability to punish the loose balls when required was admirable.
“The way Kohli left the ball and when we were slightly off the line he punished the ball. He paced his innings very, very well. He put up his hand today and showed real fight and he was tight and didn’t give much away until the end.”
The coach did say that he wasn’t very happy with the performance of his bowlers although he claimed that South Africa is very much in control.
“At the same time, we were slightly wide and short, probably the widest I have seen outside the off-stump, because the ball was swinging. But the game never really drifted away from us. They are five down, and I will take it,” he added.