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Cape Town - Virat Kohli's numbers in the recently completed ODI series between India and the Proteas are simply staggering.
While he captained his side to a memorable 5-1 series win over the South Africans, it was with bat in hand where Kohli was most impressive.
In six innings, Kohli scored 558 runs at an average of 186, carding three centuries and one half-century along the way.
He was at it again in Pretoria on Friday night when his 129* saw India cruise to victory in the sixth ODI.
Proteas stand-in captain Aiden Markram acknowledged after the match that Kohli had been immense for his side throughout the series.
Still incredibly inexperienced at international level, Markram was thrown into the deep end when he was given the captaincy after Faf du Plessis was injured after the first ODI.
It was the toughest possible assignment for the 23-year-old, and the fact that Kohli was as dominant as he was made it even worse for Markram.
"Virat made a massive difference. He’s obviously in incredible touch and showing it," Markram explained.
"His hunger for runs and desperation to finish games is up there with the best in the world. He’s been the difference in the series … credit must be given where it is due."
Markram added that he would learn a lot from watching Kohli in the series, adding that he had no issues with his opposite number's attitude on the field.
"It’s all from a competitive point of view … it’s not malicious," Markram explained.
"He doesn’t get his side close to the line, he gets them over the line as we saw again tonight.
There are a lot of thing I can learn from him and their team as a whole."
