Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra feels Indian batters must deliver the goods if they hope to win a maiden Test series in South Africa. He said that Virat Kohli is the only Indian batter to have performed consistently in the Rainbow Nation. However, India will face the Proteas in two Tests, with the first game starting in Centurion on Tuesday as well where India’s batting will revolve around Kohli, who averages 51.35 in seven Tests in South Africa.

While previewing the first Test in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “You might have a question in your mind as to why we are unable to win here. According to me, the main reason is that these are the most difficult conditions for batting across the globe, where the ball seams, swings and bounces.”

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The former India opener further added: “When you see this team, Virat Kohli is the only player whose average in South Africa is close to his career average. Everyone else’s averages plummet when they go to South Africa. In fact, the entire South African team also has extremely ordinary averages in Test cricket. So Virat Kohli is shining bright.”

However, Aakash Chopra feels that Team India’s batting will be challenged more than their bowling in the upcoming Test series against South Africa.

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“I think bowling will still stand up and get counted because the conditions are good for bowling and the opposing team too does not have that much might in batting. However, batting will have to score runs because the opposing team’s bowling is good for these conditions,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “So they are going to challenge you. If India can score 350-400 runs, they can get close to creating history. If we look at South Africa, the batting is extremely inexperienced. They are not a team that will score 500 against your bowling attack.”