Unsatisfied Kohli eyes England, Australia

Indian captain Virat Kohli has refused to bask in his team’s success in South Africa as he received the International Cricket Council Test championship mace for the second year running.

Somewhat incongruously, the mace was presented to Kohli on Saturday at the end of a triumphant limited overs campaign. India won a one-day international series 5-1 and a Twenty20 series 2-1, but second-ranked South Africa had won a Test series at the start of the tour.

"I’d say we are still 80 percent," Kohli said of the Test team as he looked forward to major challenges in coming tours of England and Australia later this year.

"When we are able to achieve what we want to in the two tours, we’ll be more content. But our 80 percent is also exciting. To be a world-class side, you have to be 100 percent."

India will play a five-Test in England in August and September and are due to tour Australia for Tests in the summer of 2018-19.

Although the cut-off date for the ICC rankings comes in April, India cannot be overtaken. Apart from the mace, India will collect a million dollars in prize money.

Kohli will leave South Africa on Sunday having dazzled with his batting artistry and his no-holds-barred captaincy style.

It is doubtful whether any visiting captain in modern times has made a greater impact than Kohli, who stated on arrival that his India team feared no opposition nor any conditions. "We look at the pitch and adapt to the conditions," he said. "Every game is a home game. It’s as simple as that."

He did not complain about the seam-friendly Test pitches prepared for South Africa’s fast bowlers, even though ICC match referee Chris Broad rated the pitches for the first two Tests "average" and Andy Pycroft condemned the pitch used for the third Test at the Wanderers as "poor".

Kohli's response was that sub-standard pitches helped his bowlers as much as they helped the South Africans. Although India lost the first two Tests, they were competitive in both and made the best of the worst conditions by winning the third Test.

Then they outclassed South Africa in the white ball games.

Kohli was the leading run-scorer for either side in both the Tests and one-day games. He showed resolve, sound technique and courage in difficult conditions in the Tests, scoring 286 runs, including the only century of the series, at an average of 47.66.

He exploded on more batsmen-friendly pitches in the one-dayers, striking a world record bilateral series total of 558 runs at a staggering average of 186.00, scoring at a fraction under a run a ball.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma will captain the country's 15-member Twenty20 squad for the tri-nation series against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh next month, selectors announced on Sunday.

The Indian selectors announced that some team seniors including Kohli had been rested for the series.

"We have kept in mind the workload and upcoming schedule while finalising the team for Nidahas Trophy 2018," M.S.K Prasad, chairman of the all-India senior selection committee said in a statement.  

"The high-performance team has suggested that adequate rest should be given to our fast bowlers to help improve athletic performance, maximise performance, maximise rest and prevent injury," Prasad added.

The tri-nation series will be played at Sri Lanka's R Premadasa Stadium.

India T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Siraj, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)