NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Not content with an unassailable lead in the four-match series, home captain Virat Kohli promised India will be “ruthless” against South Africa in the final match beginning at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium today.
Exploiting their home advantage, India beat South Africa inside three days both in Mohali and Nagpur, while also dominating the rained-out second test in Bangalore.
This was South Africa’s first away test series defeat in nine years and Kohli suggested there would be no respite for the visitors, currently the top-ranked test team.
“If you talk about mindset, we want to be ruthless,” Kohli told reporters ahead of his first match as test captain at his home ground.
“We are not satisfied with two-nil. If we have a chance to go three-nil up, we’d try and go three-nil up and give our 100 percent.”
The 27-year-old said the team would field the strongest combination even if the outcome would not alter the fate of the series.
“We are not going to field someone just because we are 2-0 up. At this stage, there is not much room for experiments,” Kohli said.
Pitches used for the series have taken some sheen off India’s achievement, with the Nagpur surface rated as “poor” by the match referee, while South Africa captain Hashim Amla called it the “toughest” track he has faced.
Kohli have steadfastly defended the tracks and the Indian captain once again resented the talk around the pitches, which he claimed “defied logic”.
