"Virat Kohli will definitely score a hundred" - Morne Morkel feels the venues in the ODI series vs South Africa will suit the former India skipper
Morne Morkel believes Virat Kohli will end his more than two-year-long century drought during the upcoming ODI series against South Africa.
Kohli has been stuck on 70 international tons since breaching the three-figure mark in the pink-ball Test against Bangladesh in November 2019. His last ODI century came against the West Indies in Port of Spain in August 2019.
During an interaction on the Star Sports show Game Plan, Morne Morkel was asked whether Virat Kohli will end his long wait for an international century in the three ODIs against the Proteas. He responded:
"Virat Kohli will definitely score a hundred. It's definitely two venues that he will enjoy to bat on. Cape Town is one of them and he has said in many interviews that he loves playing at Newlands. I can't see him playing three ODIs and not scoring a hundred."
The former South African pacer also picked Team India as the slight favorites going into the three-match series. Morne Morkel elaborated:
"I do feel that India is the more settled team. I do believe playing at Paarl will give them a slight advantage, especially in the first two games. So I am going for a 2-1 result for India."
In the 2018 ODI series, India beat South Africa 5-1 and Virat Kohli won the man of the series award. #SAvIND
Virat Kohli's Team India trounced South Africa 5-1 the last time the Men in Blue played an ODI series in the Rainbow Nation. However, the visitors will miss the services of Rohit Sharma, their new full-time limited-overs skipper, in this series and might also be in slight turmoil after Kohli opted to give up his Test captaincy.
"It's great to see Suryakumar Yadav in the Indian team" - Morne Morkel
Morne Morkel was also asked to pick his likely standout player of the India-South ODI series. The lanky Proteas pacer opted to go with his former Kolkata Knight Riders teammate Suryakumar Yadav, saying:
"I am a big fan of Suryakumar Yadav. I played with him for a couple of years at Kolkata. It's great to see him in the Indian team, so hopefully, he will get the opportunity and really come and show his class here in South Africa."
Who will play at No.4 for India in the first #INDvsSAF ODI ???
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1. Shreyas Iyer
2. Suryakumar Yadav
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#INDvSA #India #IndianCricketTeam #KLRahul #ShikharDhawan #SAvIND #ViratKohli #ShreyasIyer https://t.co/eaJp0LAj4S
Suryakumar Yadav has represented Team India in just three ODIs to date, scoring 124 runs at an average of 62.00. However, he is not assured of a spot in the playing XI and might have to compete with Shreyas Iyer for the No. 4 position in the batting order.