Allan Donald lauds Virat Kohli's statements from 2018 which changed the fortunes of Indian team

India’s tour of South Africa will start with the Boxing Day Test in Centurion. It will be India’s first tour to South Africa to play Test matches since losing the series back in 2018. India did win the next Test series when South Africa traveled to India in 2019.

The Indian team has not won a Test series in South Africa in 29 years. Considering the form that the Indian team is currently in, this record might improve after both the teams are done playing the third Test in Capetown in January.

Allan Donald, one of the best fast bowlers of all time, called India a quality team and expects that the contest between both teams will be incredible.

“There is no doubt this is one of the marquee series in the world game and we can look forward to an incredible battle over the summer,” Donald was quoted as saying by cricket.co.za.

Allan Donald feels Virat Kohli’s statement has made India a powerful team

After losing the last series against South Africa, Kohli had said that a great team is the one that wins series away from home. Donald mentioned that this statement from Kohli has made India a quality team that won the series in Australia and reached the World Test Championship final.

“Kohli’s comments a few years ago were that you’ll never be classed as a great side if you don’t win away from home and that has been something he really worked towards. You saw them win in Australia and also reach the WTC (World Test Championship) Final. This is a quality Indian team that is here. I’m looking forward to it,” Donald said.

While interacting with the media before going for this tour, Kohli mentioned that the loss against South Africa started a new era for the Indian team. The team learned from the mistakes committed in that series and set benchmarks for playing good cricket in overseas conditions.

“South Africa was really the start for us as a team, travelling and starting to believe we can win series overseas,” he said. “We built it up nicely in England, and Australia was an accumulation of all those efforts,” Kohli said.