David Bedingham reveals he used to copy Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's technique | India vs South Africa

Ahead of the second Test against India, South African batter David Bedingham shared insights into his cricketing inspirations, revealing his admiration for Indian batting maestros Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma during his formative years. The South African cricketer, who made an impressive 56 runs in Centurion, credits Kohli and Sharma as his key influences during his teenage years.

While Bedingham grew up idolizing Herschelle Gibbs and Jacques Kallis, it was the techniques of Kohli and Sharma that particularly captivated him. Speaking to reporters before the second Test at Newlands, Bedingham expressed his reverence for the Indian players. "Definitely Herschelle Gibbs. Jacques Kallis was from my school [Wynberg Boys’ High] … or, I was from his school. So I tended to watch those two," he said.

Bedingham further elaborated on his admiration for Kohli and Sharma, stating, “My two favourites among Indian players are Sharma and Kohli. I think when I was between 13-18, I was trying to mould my technique like theirs (Kallis and Gibbs) and when I had a bad game, I changed my technique to copy Kohli’s or try probably Sharma’s.”

This revelation comes after Bedingham's noteworthy performance in the recent match against India at Centurion, where he contributed significantly to South Africa's triumph by an innings.

Notably, Bedingham and Keegan Petersen are the only two players from the victorious Centurion XI named in South Africa's squad for the upcoming two Tests in New Zealand. The rest of the first-choice players are committed to the SA20 league.