Virat Kohli was in the mood to have some fun as the India Test captain was seen joking around with his teammates, especially pacer Ishant Sharma on their flight to South Africa on Thursday. India’s 18-man squad along with the support staff departed for the Rainbow Nation from Mumbai. India will play 3 Tests from December 26 and the series will be followed by a 3-match ODI series.

In a video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Virat Kohli was seen teasing Ishant Sharma over his suitcase that seemed to fit nearly everything. Kohli was awestruck by how Ishant was able to pack quite a few of his stuff, including his slippers into the suitcase. The Test captain said Ishant would be able to travel anywhere with his suitcase.

Responding to his captain, Ishant Sharma urged Kohli not to tease him early in the morning. “Subhe, subhe mat kar ye sab,” the pacer can be heard saying in the video.

Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara said he was not able to catch some sleep despite trying hard and that he has been waiting to reach Johannesburg.

Meanwhile, head coach Rahul Dravid was seen sitting alongside Shreyas Iyer, who made merry on his Test debut, hitting a hundred and following it up with a fifty against New Zealand.

India will be looking to win their first-ever Test series in South Africa after having shown flashes of brilliance the last time they toured the Rainbow Nation. Captain Virat Kohli, ahead of the team’s departure, made it clear that India are not going to South Africa to win an odd Test match but the series.

India will be without Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel as the trio is missing out due to injury concerns.

“South Africa in one place where we have not won a series yet, so we are very motivated to do that and that mindset is always to go out there in any country and win the series. We don’t think of winning a Test match here and there and we will do our absolute best to make sure we keep contributing towards the cause and as you rightly said, we can take inspiration and belief from that win on the last tour,” Kohli said.

Virat Kohli also created a stir during the pre-departure press conference, alleging that there was lack of communication between him and the BCCI before he was removed as ODI captain. Kohli also contradicted BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s claims over his decision to quit T20I captaincy.

The BCCI top brass got into a huddle to prepare a response to Kohli’s claims. Most of the members of the board are not in agreement with Kohli’s comments.