Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli celebrates his century against South Africa in Centurion on Monday (January 15).Reuters

India finished the three-Test series against South Africa with a 1-2 loss but captain Virat Kohli claimed the number one position in the "Rainbow Nation".

Cape Town, Centurion and Johannesburg tracks made life difficult for the batsmen. The Proteas won the opening two Tests while India, in far tougher conditions than the first two games, bounced back to end the series on a high.

Also read:  SA-India series schedule

At Johannesburg's Wanderers Stadium, India overcame a "dangerous" pitch to defeat the hosts by 63 runs on Saturday (January 27).

The 29-year-old Kohli yet again proved whey he is one of the best batsmen in the world. In a series dominated by bowlers and pitches tailor-made for them, Kohli was a standout with the willow.

Kohli was the only batsman in the series to score a century. He hit a superb 153 in Centurion but India surrendered by 135 runs. He also topped the batting charts for the series with 286 runs. He had the highest series average too - 47.66.

The skipper was the only Indian batsman to breach the 200-run mark. The next best Indian was Hardik Pandya with 119. Three South Africans - AB de Villiers, Dean Algar and Hashim Amla topped 200 in series aggregate.

Another big positive for India was the performance of their bowlers. They captured all 60 wickets in the series. Mohammed Shami was the joint highest wicket-taker for the series with Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada. The trio claimed 15 scalps each.

The teams will now compete in a six-ODI series starting Thursday (February 1) in Durban. This will be followed by three T20Is.

Batting and bowling stars of South Africa-India Test series

Top 5 run-getters

286 - Virat Kohli (6 innings, 1 ton, 1 fifty)

211 - AB de Villiers (6 innings, 2 fifties)

207 - Dean Elgar (6 innings, 2 fifties)

203 - Hashim Amla (6 innings, 3 fifties)

183 - Faf du Plessis (6 innings, 2 fifties)

Top 5 wicket-takers

15 - Vernon Philander, Mohammed Shami, Kagiso Rabada

14 - Jasprit Bumrah

13 - Morne Morkel

10 - Bhuvneshwar Kumar

9 - Lungi Ngidi