At the beginning of 2017, Virat Kohli couldn’t have asked for a better year. He has won almost everything, and there are very few games he can look back with regret. To top things off in style, he got married in Italy with one of the leading actresses in the country, Anushka Sharma. 

Even though, Virat has said that it’s not difficult for him to get back into an intense competitive environment after such a romantic wedding. “I was away for something which was much more important. That will always be a period that will remain very special. Switching back to cricket is not difficult at all, because it’s in my blood,” he said in a press conference yesterday. He also said that he hasn’t skipped training and preparing for the South Africa tour in the past three weeks. 

Test cricket wise, India have had a dream 2017. They began with a tough four-test match series against Australia which they won 2-1 despite the absence of Kohli for the fourth Test. 

After that, they didn’t face any real Test as they steamrolled Sri Lanka in all the other matches. Even towards the end of 2016, India had managed a 4-0 victory over England, who are worthy opponents. 

But 2018 is not going to be a similarly easy nut to crack for Virat Kohli’s men. To begin with, they have an extremely tough tour to South Africa coming up. Last time, India were there they lost the two match series 1-0. India did compete hard in the first Test, but weren’t able to salvage their pride as they were hammered in the second Test by 10 wickets. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli scored centuries, so rest assured they will not go in with a negative mindset. 

“We know all about Virat Kohli, how determined he is as captain; he’ll definitely come here trying to win and to make history. We are well aware of that and we’ll prepare accordingly. Hopefully play some good cricket in the summer,” AB de Villiers said a few days ago. 

After the tough three match series, which we are excited about, we’ll have something even more mouth watering. A five match Test series against England in England. The last time India toured there, Virat Kohli’s batting skills was humiliated by James Anderson and India were beaten black and blue. 

Post that, India will have to tour Australia in November-December for a four match series, and even that could cause some scars in the minds of Indian players if they bring anything less than their A++ game.