'Virat Kohli spat at me': South Africa great recalls lesser-known first duel with ex-India skipper

Virat Kohli won several hearts with his priceless gesture for South Africa's Dean Elgar, who bowed out of the longest format in the second and final Test of the bilateral series between the two cricketing superpowers. Leading tribute for Elgar on his final game in January, the batting icon gave the Proteas stellar a tight hug. After Kohli's incredible gesture, members of the Indian team also congratulated Elgar for capping off a sensational Test career.

Elgar recorded his final Test appearance for the Proteas in the Cape Town decider against India. Kohli and Elgar had nothing but respect for each other when the two gladiators last met on a cricket field. However, Elgar had a lesser-known ‘shocking’ first encounter with the talismanic batter of the Indian team back in 2015. Taking a trip down memory lane, Elgar revealed that Kohli even 'spat at' the Proteas batter when South Africa played a Test series in India.

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'Virat Kohli spat at me'

"Those wickets were jokes. Like playing on that... that surface there. And I came into bat and I was actually like holding my own against Ashwin and what's his name Jeja, Jeja, Jeja (Ravindra Jadeja) (smiles) and Kohli, he like spat at me. I said to him if you do that, I'll ******g ***** you with this bat," he added, using a local profanity," Elgar said on Banter with The Boys podcast.

'Kohli did because de Villiers was…'

During the special interaction, former skipper Elgar went on to give legendary South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers a special mention. Thanks to his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kohli shares a great camaraderie with De Villiers. “Yes, he did because de Villiers was his teammate at RCB, so he understood. And I said if you do that, I'll ... on this field, I'll absolutely knock you out. And then [he said] 'Hey **** you, **** you' (mimicking the Indian) but barking up the wrong tree yeah. Anyways, we are in India so you got to be a little bit cautious,” he added.

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After giving Elgar a pleasant farewell in his final international match, Kohli also gifted the former South Africa skipper a signed jersey at Capetown. The Kohli-starrer Team India defeated South Africa in Elgar's farewell game to level the series 1-1. Elgar scored 5,347 runs in 86 Tests for the Proteas. The former South African international slammed 14 centuries and 23 half-centuries for the Rainbow Nation.