Imperious Kohli targets eight or nine more years after latest heroics

More records fell to Virat Kohli as he hit 129 not out to sink South Africa, but the India captain has targeted many more years of success.

Published : Feb 17, 2018 01:22 IST

Bowlers across the world beware, India captain Virat Kohli is targeting almost another decade of dominance.

Kohli breaking records and scoring centuries in one-day international run-chases has become almost routine in recent years.

He did just that again on Friday as India were led to a dominant eight-wicket win over South Africa by their captain, sealing a 5-1 series triumph in the process.

The Proteas had no answer as Kohli belted 129 not out, taking his tally for the series to a record 553, comfortably surpassing the previous milestone of 491 set by international colleague Rohit Sharma in 2013.

Kohli also moved beyond 17,000 career international runs - faster than anyone before him - but the 29-year-old has no intention of slowing down just yet.

"I've got eight or nine years left in my career," Kohli said at a post-match presentation in which he was interviewed in his role as captain, man of the match and man of the series.

"It's not a long career for a cricketer so I want to make the most of it. I want to train as hard as I can, make the most of every day.

"It's a blessing from god that I'm healthy. I'm getting to play for my country, captain my country - there's no bigger honour than that. If I take it for granted, it's not giving justice to what I'm given by god.

"I look at it that way and keep working hard every day so I can give 120 per cent for the team and keep winning and keep moving forward."

Proteas stand-in skipper Aiden Markram, playing in just his seventh ODI, targeted Kohli for some chin music early on, but his opposite number revealed it only helped him get tuned up.

"They had to try something," Kohli added. "I like setting up for the short ball, if I get into good positions I feel I can get boundaries off those balls.

"It was a blessing in disguise getting so many short balls up front, even though there were so many slips. They kept bowling short, it was a good chance to capitalise."

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