Philander reveals how he plotted Kohli's downfall

Tags: India tour of South Africa 2018, South Africa Vs India,1st Test at Cape Town,Jan 05-09, 2018, India, South Africa, Vernon Darryl Philander, Virat Kohli, Test match

Published on: Jan 10, 2018

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South Africa's wrecker-in-chief at Cape Town, Vernon Philander said he had a plan in place to trap Virat Kohli after the hosts defeated India by 72 runs.

South Africa's wrecker-in-chief at Cape Town, Vernon Philander said he had a plan in place to trap Virat Kohli after the hosts defeated India by 72 runs.

"Virat is a good player and an aggressive player. The key thing is to obviously keep him quiet and to make sure you set him up for the other one. Initially it was for me to keep him quiet upfront, and I always knew I had the one coming back," said Philander in a PTI report.

He went on to add, "It was probably two-and-a-half overs of away-swingers and then the one back at him (Kohli). It was definitely a plan to keep him quiet, and also to drag him across to make sure that when you do bowl the other one, he is on the other side of the off-stump.

"I was not worried about his DRS review. I knew it was stone dead," he added. On Kohli's dismissal, Philander said, "I never said anything to Virat. It was in the spur of the moment. I just tried to spur my boys on; that's what we tend to focus on.”

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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