‘We have plans for Kohli’

Gibson, who was with England on its tour of India towards the end of 2016, had watched Kohli closely and remembers the way the star batsman tortured his team. England’s bowling coach at the time, Gibson watched on as the tourist was smashed 4-0 over five Tests. 

It was a series to forget for the visitor, while India further enhanced its reputation as being near-invincible on home soil. Indian captain Kohli was ruthless in that series, scoring a whopping 655 runs in eight innings at an average of 109.16 that included two centuries and two half-centuries. 

“They were too good for us,” Gibson recalls. “They played really well and were led very well by the captain, who got a lot of runs. There were times in those conditions where we couldn’t get him out.” 

But, the South Africans are not prepared for a repeat of that from the Indian captain in the upcoming series, which gets underway at Newlands on Friday. “I think in these conditions it will be a lot different,” he said. 

“We’ll have some plans for him as we will for every other player in the team.” Gibson was then asked if this Proteas bowling attack, which includes Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel was the best he had worked with in his career so far. The 48-year-old, though, was reluctant to make that statement. 

“This attack has Steyn, Morkel, Rabada, Philander, Chris Morris and Keshav Maharaj, who is a world class spinner, perhaps the best that the country has had for a long time,” he signed off.