Former India head coach Ravi Shastri on Tuesday advised star batter Virat Kohli to ‘get in the face' of Australia in the forthcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), a five-match Test series, scheduled to commence on Friday in Perth.
Kohli has scored at a dismal average of just 32 in Test cricket since 2020 and managed to register only two centuries in last 60 innings. His inability to accumulate even hundred runs in the recently-held three-match home Test series against New Zealand further raised concerns about his future in the format.
Meanwhile, Shastri, while talking to The West Australian, acknowledged Kohli’s recent struggles with the bat in Tests but advised the right-handed batter for sporting an antagonist role, hoping it would get the stalwart firing again.
"You mellow with age, don’t you? But I think at the start of the Test series, you might just see (Kohli) firing again. He needs to be, I'd like to see him (like that) again."
"In the face, that’s Kohli. Come Australia, he’ll get his juices going. It’s (about) how he starts off, and for Australia, it’s with Steve Smith. These guys, don’t write them off – because if they get cracking in the first two or three innings, they’ll have a good series," he added.
Prior to the Test series, India had a practice match scheduled in Australia, however, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) cancelled it due to the rising injury woes of the touring side.
Reacting to the cancellation of the practice match, Shastri said that he would have preferred even a two-day practice match but insisted that the team management there must be better aware of the players’ readiness for the assignment.
"It’s always, ‘how strong will the opposition be?’ That’s the first question you ask (planning a tour game),” he said.
“I prefer playing matches, even if it’s a two-day game or a three-day game. With the time India had, they might have thought of that, but at the end of the day, it’s the team management who understands best.
“They know how tired the players are – they’ve just come off a series against New Zealand, they’ve played some one-day cricket as well, so they thought this was the best preparation … time will tell.”
- Virat Kohli
- Ravi Shastri
