Virat Kohli 'kept his ego aside' points Gautam Gambhir after test skipper's gritty knock

Former cricketer turned commentator, Gautam Gambhir, praised Virat Kohli after the Indian captain smashed 79 off 201 balls on the opening day of the third Test match against South Africa on Tuesday. Kohli batted with a lot more discipline against the Proteas, taking India from 33/2 to 211/9 before being dismissed by Kagiso Rabada in the 73rd over. When asked about Kohli's performance, Gambhir said the Delhi batter put his ego aside and left a lot of deliveries outside off-stump, something that the Indian batting coach Vikram Rathour also highlighted after the match.

"Virat has said many times that you should leave your ego in India when you get to England. Virat Kohli left his ego in the kit bag today, and this knock reminds me of his extremely successful tour of England, where he was beaten numerous times yet left a large number of deliveries that were coming outside off-stump. He was defeated today in the same way but he kept his ego aside and left deliveries outside off-stump. He did not try to overpower the bowlers on every delivery," Gambhir stated on Star Sports.

Team India's batting coach Vikram Rathour also lauded the Indian skipper, saying the way Virat Kohli dealt with South African bowlers was "terrific". Rathour, however, admitted that India's batting in the match was below par. Rathour said at the post-match press conference that soft dismissals towards the backend of the first innings "hurt" India. 

India vs South Africa, 3rd Test

Coming back to the match, India scored 223 runs before being bowled out in 77.3 overs. Batting first, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal opened the innings for India. The duo was dismissed early by the South African pacers as they went after scoring 31 runs between them. Duanne Olivier dismissed KL Rahul for 12 runs, while Agarwal was removed for 15 off 35 balls by Rabada.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli put on a key third-wicket stand before the former was dismissed for 43 runs by Marco Jansen. Kohli went on to score 79 runs off 201 balls and batted until the final overs of the innings before being removed by Rabada. Kohli also formed a crucial partnership with Rishabh Pant, who hit 27 off 50 balls in the middle. For the Proteas, Rabada took four wickets, while Jansen took three. Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, and Keshav Maharaj each took one wicket.

India managed to take one South African wicket before the end of the day's play on Tuesday when Jasprit Bumrah removed Dean Elgar for 3 runs off 16 balls. On Day 2 of the third Test match, South Africa will resume batting at 17/1.