IND VS RSA - 2nd T20I, South Africa tour of India, 2019

Not long ago, Virat Kohli tweeted a picture of India's virtual quarter-final victory (vs Australia in 2016) which clearly ignited plenty of needless rumors about a certain MSD. Very little changed since. The grace, hunger, tenacity and most importantly running-between-the-wickets, has only gotten better and better. He just claims the Man of the Match awards like a drink after a net session. All in all, a solid start for India and if this game is an indication of things to come, South Africa have a long, long tour to go. For now, let's not get ahead ourselves as the visitors have a chance to square the series come this weekend. It is on Sunday and in my favourite city in India, the garden city - Bengaluru. Do remember to join us for that. Until next one, this is Raju Peethala waving goodbye on behalf Ramakrishnan MS, Akshay Maanay, Vineet Anantharaman, Abhinand Raghavendran and our scoring-master Sulthan Y. Cheers!!

Harsha Bhogle: South Africa were always about 20 runs short and that meant India were never under any pressure. Coasted home.

Virat Kohli, Indian skipper and the recipient of the Man of the Match award: You (Sanjay Manjrekar) reminded me of the best game of my T20 career. I got a bit of motivation from that. When you play like that and win a game for your team, it is always a good feeling. That night (2016 game vs AUS) was a revelation of how fit you can be on a cricket field. The pitch was very good and an outstanding effort from the bowlers to pull things back. As long as they (youngsters) show character in difficult situations, they are going to present a strong case for themselves in the future. Lot of positive signs for us and they'll get many more games to prove their mettle. They are going in the right direction. The badge in front of my shirt - India - it is a pride to play for my country. Whatever it takes, whichever format, to get us across the line, I'll do that. Adapting in different formats is nothing but a mindset of making your team win. If you want to win a game for your team, you will find a way. That's the most important thing. I never think for myself, it's always about what the team needs. Test cricket, one-day cricket ... the will should be to win the game for your country.

QDK, South African skipper: We got off to a good start and towards the end they bowled pretty well and they assessed the conditions better than we did. There was a lot of pressure on some of the new guys and I think they did pretty well against this world-class opposition. KG upfront tried to pick up wickets and unfortunately, with pace on the ball it looked easier to bat on and pace off the ball seemed to be the better option on this wicket. I was quite hungry to get out there and hopefully next time we do better than what we did today with the bat.

Shikhar Dhawan: It was a good start for all of us. I was playing well, timing the ball well and enjoying myself. Great to get a winning start to the home season. We guys practice a lot at that pace. We are used to it now and that's why we can counter that pace in matches. It was great to see Rohit hit those sixes and it was a great feeling for me to hit boundaries. [On Miller's catch] It was an unbelievable catch and Virat was thinking that as well. I was smiling and appreciated his effort. It was hit hard, it wasn't lofted, it was hit flat and I took it in my stride.

Virat Kohli in run chases
ODIs: 131 innings; 6850 runs; Avg 68.50; 26 X 100s; 30 X 50s
T20Is: 30 innings; 1381 runs; Avg 81.23; 15 X 50s

22:17 Local Time, 16:47 GMT, 22:17 IST: Kohli likes playing at Mohali, he trudges back casually while gesturing a thumbs up to someone in the crowd. India have ticked all their boxes, you'd think. The chase may not have gone according to plan, but the presence of Kohli for most part of the innings made it look like a cakewalk. Rohit Sharma got a good one from Phehlukwayo, and Dhawan was a tad unlucky as he got out to a stunner of a catch from Miller. Pant walked in, perished in the blink of an eye in a manner only he could get out. South Africa's bowling looked toothless and they need to sort that conundrum pretty quickly if they are to offer any challenge to this strong Indian line-up. Their batting coach Vikram Rathour will be pleased to start his stint on a winning note. Presentations imminent, stick around....

Fortuin to Shreyas Iyer, FOUR, full and straight, drilled past the diving long-on fielder and that's it, curtains! India start their home season with an emphatic 7-wicket win over the Proteas

Fortuin to Kohli, 1 run, nudged away to mid-wicket, over to you Iyer says VK

Aryan Joshi: "Just another day in the office for Virat Kohli."

Most runs in T20Is
2440 Virat Kohli *
2434 Rohit Sharma
2283 Martin Guptill
2263 Shoaib Malik
2140 Brendon McCullum

Fortuin to Kohli, SIX, Kohli is just having a net out there. Ah, the ease at which he plays such shots. Skips out of his crease, doesn't get anywhere close to the pitch of the delivery but such is his hand-eye co-ordination that he marmalizes it for a 94-metre maximum over long-on

Fortuin to Shreyas Iyer, 1 run, full and fast on leg-stump, Iyer gets a thick inside edge on the flick to short fine

Fortuin to Kohli, 1 run, curving into the pads once again, Kohli prefers to stay back and drags the pull in the gap between deep mid-wicket and long-on

Fortuin to Kohli, no run, slow and sliding into the batsman, Kohli runs down the pitch and checks his drive back to the bowler

Bjorn Fortuin [3.0-0-19-1] is back into the attack

Run-a-ball required

Rabada to Shreyas Iyer, no run, Iyer tries to do something cheeky, no dice. Opens up his stance and tries to ramp a 138ks short ball outside off, was late on the shot and missed it by some distance

Rabada to Shreyas Iyer, no run, short of length around fifth stump at 142ks, Iyer steers with an open face to backward point

Rabada to Kohli, 1 run, pacy short ball outside off, Kohli swivels and pulls to deep square

Rabada to Kohli, no run, back of a length outside off stump, punched into the covers

Rabada to Kohli, no run, slower ball on the stumps, Kohli tries to flick and cannot get it past the fielder at mid-wicket