It's India vs South Africa, not Kohli vs De Villiers, says Virat Kohli

Cape Town: He has the highest regards for his Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate, and Indian skipper Virat Kohli simply does not understand why every India-South Africa series has to be billed as a battle between him and AB de Villiers.

"It's not like only two guys are playing in this series. AB is a great friend of mine. I respect the way he plays the game and I have always respected him as a person as well. But when we are playing against each other, it's not that we cross the line with each other; we are just not like that," Kohli said when asked about his duel with the premier Proteas batsman.

Kohli also reminded that merely getting De Villiers out won't ensure a Test match victory for India.

"It's just that we want to get AB out and the opposition will want to get me out or Pujara or Rahane. I don't think there is any difference in terms of the mindset in any of the batsmen in the side.

"Every player wants to be the standout batsman and make contributions towards the team winning. Unless you have that as a group, you don't have too many chances of winning a series. Some people may have brilliant individual performances and then you will be fine with one or two people doing well," Kohli said.

The Indian skipper said that his team is hungry to do well against a quality opposition.

"Right now, the hunger we have in the group, everyone wants an opportunity to perform and that's very exciting. I can't speak for the opposition because AB hasn't played much Test cricket since he played against us and he's coming back after a while.

"But look, setting apart all the spice created on the outside, the team that plays well together for a longer period of time has a better chance of winning the series," he said.