The shining star in India's batting order in the second innings of the first Test match against South Africa, Virat Kohli became the first batter to score 2,000 runs in seven different calendar years even as India fell to a crushing defeat against the Proteas on Thursday.
Dean Elgar's graceful innings of 185, along with South Africa's accurate fast bowling, led to India's defeat in just three days.
When the other batters struggled against Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen, and Nandre Burger's formidable pace, Virat Kohli scored runs through fast singles and boundaries.
In India's loss by an innings and 32 runs, he made 76 runs from 82 balls, bringing his total to 2,006 runs in 2023.
Virat Kohli had previously accomplished this in 2012 (2,186 runs), 2014 (2,286 runs), 2016 (2,595 runs), 2017 (2,818 runs), 2018 (2,735 runs), and 2019 (2,455 runs).
On the third day, India's captain Rohit Sharma continued to struggle in South Africa, particularly against Kagiso Rabada. Rohit was left confused by Rabada's delivery, which angled inwards and ultimately led to the ball hitting the stumps.
The experienced right-handed batsman was dismissed for a duck after facing only eight balls, making this his seventh dismissal in 11 innings against Rabada.
Yashasvi Jaiswal attempted to avoid the delivery, but the ball deflected off his glove and directly into the wicketkeeper's hands.
Shubman Gill seemed ready to have a substantial innings, but his effort to hit the ball straight didn't succeed. Marco Jansen took his first wicket as Gill left the field after scoring 26 runs off 37 balls.
Following a disappointing beginning to their second turn at bat, South Africa made a strong impact against India by swiftly dismissing Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul.
After Burger dismissed Ravichandran Ashwin without scoring, India's destiny was essentially determined. Jasprit Bumrah's runout, which resulted from an excellent fielding effort by Dean Elgar, created a sense of disappointment.
A successful review by the South African team revealed that Mohammed Siraj had gloved the ball directly to the wicketkeeper.
Prasidh Krishna put up a tough fight, but Jansen ultimately outperformed Virat Kohli (76), leading to India's defeat within the first three days.
