Virat Kohli Bags 11th Player Of The Series Award In ODIs, Says 'Haven’t Played Like This In 2-3 Years'

India beat South Africa in ODI Series: Virat Kohli had a memorable outing with the bat in the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa. He produced another masterclass in the decider as India defeated South Africa by 9 wickets in Visakhapatnam to win the series 2-1 on Saturday.

Virat played a remarkable knock of 65 runs in 45 balls on the back of six fours and three sixes. He smashed a couple of successive boundaries to finish things off as India chased down the 271-run target in 39.5 overs. For being the top run-getter, Virat was adjudged the Player of the Series.

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The senior batter scored 302 runs in three matches at an average of 151, having smashed centuries in the first two games. "Honestly, playing the way I have in the series is the most satisfying thing for me. I feel really free in my mind. I haven’t played like this in 2-3 years. I know when I can bat like that in the middle, it helps the team a long way; makes me confident, any situation in the middle, I can handle that and bring it in favour of the team," Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

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"When I play freely, I know I can hit sixes. There are always levels you can unlock," he added.

The first one at Ranchi (his favourite of the three tons this series) - because I hadn’t played a game since Australia. Just how your energy is on the day, Ranchi is very special for me, and I’m very grateful for how these three games have gone,” Kohli said.

This was Virat's 12th Player of the Series award in the ODI format, second-most after Sachin Tendulkar, who was adjudged 15 times in his career. Apart from Virat's effort, Yashasvi Jaiswal grabbed the headlines with his maiden ODI century, whereas Rohit Sharma played a 75-run knock in 73 balls.

Earlier in the match, India bowled South Africa out for 270 in 47.5 overs on the back of four wickets each from Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav.