Following next month’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy, it would be safe to say that Virat Kohli will be the foremost batsman in India’s lineup for the tour. Over the years, Kohli has been a thorn in the flesh of the Aussies having accumulated more than 1300 runs in Test matches in Australia alone at an average of 54.08. However, having more than 8 hundreds scored and 5 fifties made against Australia (i.e. in the case of all Tests) does not seem to make veteran of the Indian cricket any more confident in the name of Kohli.
Back in the ongoing 3-match Test series against Australia, Kohli has, in fact, scored less than 100 runs in 4 innings throughout. He has, however, been included in the Indian squad for the Australia tour, but ex-BCCI selection committee head Ms. Prasad MSK is apprehensive about his current form.
Kohli is indeed a big name in modern-day cricket — but according to Prasad, the calm Cheteshwar Pujara will be more wanted for India in Australia.
“Yes, a hundred percent. If you see the way he carried out his duties in the 2018 series, on the one hand, he infused batting with aggression and on the other (Cheteshwar) Pujara was defending. So we are talking about two people who had the perfect mix of caution and aggression, these two were just perfect together,” he spoke on Star Sports.
“Pujara was playing solidly on one side and we had Virat who got us aggression from the other end – very different but worked nonetheless. The way Virat batted, he made everyone else look silly, everyone else had to raise their game. So when the form of the most corporate batter you have is at its worst then this is a very serious excuse for worry, especially with ICC Test Championships at stake and the whole points system,” the former Indian selector elaborated.
In the last 10 innings, Virat has only scored 245 runs at the average of 27.22. Most importantly, for India’s chances of winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia will depend on Kohli’s form. With that most especially being the case, the need for Kohli to be back in form becomes even more imperative than it has been.
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