Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has noted that Virat Kohli is at his absolute best when he wants to take the attack to the opposition. Shastri had observed Kohli from close quarters when he coached the team to two successful Test series triumphs in Australia.
The talisman has his back against the wall in the recent past as he hasn’t delivered consistent performances. Kohli could only score 93 runs in the three Test matches against New Zealand at an average of 15.50. Furthermore, he scored 99 runs in two Test matches against Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, at the start of his career, Kohli was always pumped up and always took the bull by its horns. With time and experience, Kohli has definitely mellowed down however, Shastri wants him to be in the previous version of himself to get under the skin of the Australian bowlers.
“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,” Shastri said via the Western Australian.
On the other hand, India was earlier expected to play a warm-up match against Australia A but they decided to play an intra-squad match. Shastri said India should have played a practice match but backed the team management’s final decision.
“It’s always, ‘how strong will the opposition be?’ That’s the first question you ask (planning a tour game). 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,” Shastri said.
“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,” Shastri added.
