India's Test captain Virat Kohli ends 2021 without international century

India pests South Africa in the Boxing Day Test of the Freedom Series. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli has finished 2021 without any international century. His run is continuing beyond two years.

India has produced a top performance in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa for the Freedom Trophy 2021-22. On Wednesday (Day 2) at the Centurion Park, India handed a target of 305 for the host while the Indians are bowling tight. Meanwhile, this year, Indian skipper Virat Kohli's stint came to an end on yet another low note.

Kohli scored just 18 runs in the second innings, having scored 35 in the first. Consequently, he failed to score a century in any format this year. Moreover, he has been without an international century for over a couple of years now, since November 2019. His last century was the 136 against Bangladesh in the day-night Test at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata.

Things are not ideal for the Indian skipper, as pressure is mounting on his batting performance. In 2021, Kohli has scored 536 runs in 11 Tests at a measly average of 28.21, besides scoring just four half-centuries. Moreover, the year has been eventful for him, having quit the Twenty20 International (T20I) captaincy, along with the Indian Premier League (IPL) captaincy for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). At the same time, he was also dropped as the One-Day International (ODI) skipper, replaced by Rohit Sharma entirely in the limited-overs.

Match summary
Winning the toss, India put on 327, thanks to KL Rahul's 123, while Lungi Ngidi claimed a six-for. As for SA, it was shot out for 197, thanks to Mohammed Shami's five-for. With a lead of 100-plus, India added 174 more and handed a target of 305 to the host, as the latter is finding it difficult to chase.
Brief scores: IND 327 & 174 (Pant- 34; Rabada- 4/42, Jansen- 4/55) leads SA 197 & 51/2 (Elgar- 25; Siraj- 1/14) by 254 runs.