India in South Africa: Can Virat Kohli rewrite a gloomy history?

This month, Virat Kohli, who is just one win short of becoming the second-most successful captain for India in Tests, will embark on a tour of South Africa with his team since taking over the reins in 2015. Starting with a two-day warm-up game on December 30, Team India will play three Tests, six one-day internationals (ODIs) and three T20s during the series which is being described as the toughest challenge for captain Kohli so far.

The 29-year-old has excelled both as the captain and his team’s premier batsman during his stint so far and the fans would earnestly hope that he achieves in South Africa what no other Indian captain could ever do: a series win. However, it is much easier said than done and history is replete with such pieces of evidence.

1992-93 tour: Azhar’s team lost Test series 0-1; ODI series 2-5

The 2017-18 series is the seventh India will play on the South African soil since 1992-93 when a side led by Mohammad Azharuddin took on Kepler Wessels’s team in their first home series after returning from the Apartheid ban. That series, too, was an extensive one featuring four Tests and seven ODIs.

India did well to draw the first two games in Durban and Johannesburg but were beaten comprehensively in the third match at Port Elizabeth. Veteran Kapil Dev’s heroic 129 at No. 7 after India were reduced to 30 for 6 could not save the visitors as they lost the game by 9 wickets. The fourth game at Cape Town was also drawn, giving South Africa their first series win (1-0) after over two decades.

For India, Pravin Amre’s century on debut at Durban and Anil Kumble’s finishing with 18 wickets in the bouncy wickets of SA were the high points in the series. It was also a memorable tour for Sachin Tendulkar, 18-year-old then, who became the first man to be given out by the television umpire.

For South Africa, White Lightning Allan Donald who picked 20 wickets was far too hot for the Indians to handle, especially in the third game in which he took 12. He was also adjudged the man of the series.

In the ODIs, too, the script was no different. Azhar’s side struggled with the bat consistently in the seven-game series, crossing the 200-run mark only thrice. They rode gritty batting performances from Woorkeri Raman and Ravi Shastri in the third game to make it 2-1 after the hosts won the first two games easily but it was all sliding down from there.

The South Africans kept on annihilating the opponents to make it 5-1 before a gutsy batting from wicket-keeper Vijay Yadav helped India pull one back to make it 5-2. Azhar was the highest scorer for India while Manoj Prabhakar was their most successful bowler. The man of the series award went to South African captainWessels for his consistent batting performance.