Virat Kohli stresses Test Cricket's essence as South Africa clash looms

After concluding the thrilling white-ball leg of their South African tour, India's focus shifts to the red-hot format as they take on the Proteas in a two-Test showdown. The Boxing Day Test (December 26th) in Centurion sets the stage for this fiery encounter, with the final battleground being the iconic Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town.

This series is extremely important for the Rainbow Nation remains unconquered when it comes to hosting the Men in Blue in the longest format. Despite coming tantalizingly close in recent tours, the elusive series win has continued to elude them.

India's hopes of challenging South Africa on home soil hinge heavily on Virat Kohli's performance with the bat. Thrust into the heart of the middle order, he faces a fiery gauntlet in the form of the Proteas' pace attack. Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, and Gerald Coetzee constitute a bowling unit brimming with venom, ready to test the mettle of even the most seasoned batters. On South Africa's unforgiving surfaces, where runs don't come easy, Kohli's mettle will be truly tested. His ability to handle the pace barrage and anchor the innings becomes paramount to India's ambitions of upsetting the hosts.

'Traditionalist' Kohli highlights the importance of Tests

Speaking to Star Sports ahead of the series, Kohli expressed excitement as he plays the red-ball format after a while, following a gruelling World Cup campaign. He acknowledged that the format is a different experience alltogether. "Test cricket to me is the foundation of the game. It's history, it's culture. it's heritage. It's everything to come out on the other side at the end of four days, five days or whatever the Test goes on to, it's a different feeling to anything else that you experience," he said.

He also mentioned that the pleasure he gets when he performs in Tests is second to none. "As an individual, as a team, the job satisfaction of having played a long innings for your team, making your team and a Test match is probably the most special for me. I'm a traditionalist. You can say, so for me playing in whites, in Test cricket, is everything," he added.