Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) acting president C K Khanna asserted that the Indian cricket team has been successful in channelizing their aggression in a positive direction, which in turn, helped them to thrash South Africa 5-1 in the ODI series. As quoted in ANI, Khanna said, “The aggressive attitude which the Indian team has taken to defeat South Africa on their own soil is a great achievement.”

Khanna also said, “They have played like winners. They are tigers.” India registered a reverberating eight-wicket win over South Africa in the final and sixth ODI to underline their dominance in limited overs cricket. Indian captain Virat Kohli smashed his 35th century to take India over the line. He played an unbeaten knock of 129 to become the first batsman ever to score more than 500 runs in a bilateral ODI series.

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Praising the performance of Kohli’s magnificent form, Khanna said, “Under the guidance of Ravi Shastri, the team is doing exceedingly well. Virat Kohli has led the team from the front. He has shown that he is the best captain in the world. We are expecting best performances from the Indian team, in the World Cup too.”

The BCCI’s acting president also conceded that the team currently has the perfect and ideal combination for the World Cup. In their quest of winning the ODI series 5-1, India also leapfrogged South Africa to become the ICC ODI number one side. Coming in to bat first, South Africa only managed to give a target of 204 runs with the help of Khaya Zondo’s half-century. Shardul Thakur bagged a four-wicket haul as he found a place in the squad to replace Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Also read: Shastri praises Kohli

India chased down the meager total without any fuss, as Kohli single-handedly contributed 129. Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma only managed to score 18 and 15 respectively while Ajinkya Rahane was unbeaten on 34.

Kohli was awarded the man of the match and also the player of the series as the Indian skipper ended the series with the tally of 558 runs, which include three centuries (the only Indian to notch up three tons in a bilateral series) and a half-century.