Run-machine aka Indian skipper Virat Kohli's with magnificent innings of 129 runs in the series finale gave him a scarcely believable series tally of 558 runs at a humble average of 186 in just six games, the highest aggregate in a bilateral series. Innings at Centurion, in which he'd struck unbelievable 19 fours and showboated two massive sixes at the end, pockets had been turned out, drawers rifled through. But fresh superlatives to describe his ODI batting genius remained in severely short supply. Team India coach Ravi Shastri said if it were up to him, he would visit a bookstore and pick up the Oxford dictionary to awkward laughter.

In fact, since his double failure in the Cape Town Test defeat at the start of the tour, he hit a masterful inning of 153 runs at this very venue and then proceeded to play two gems worth 54 runs and 41 runs on a spiteful Wanderers track. Then came the limited over format, the Indian captain approached his batting in a semi-meditative state, opting to practice in the nets only twice before the first ODI in Durban and then before Cape Town at the only venue he failed in the Tests. That he still cantered his way to a record tally was a testament to his mental strength and powers of visualization as much as it was to his being in a very deep shade of purple patch.