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‘Get in the face’: Kohli urged to stir Aussies

Virat Kohli and Australian captain Pat Cummins ( (Photo by William WEST / AFP)
Virat Kohli and Australian captain Pat Cummins ( (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

Indian cricket great, and former national coach Ravi Shastri has urged batting maestro Virat Kohli to “get in the face” of the Australian team to help turn around his fortunes with the bat.

Just days out from the blockbuster opening Test beginning in Perth on Friday, Shastri declared he wanted to see Kohli, a long-time nemesis for Australian teams in Australia, return to the antagonist role he relished early in his career after casting a more subdued figure on the pitch in a lean past four years of Test cricket.

The 36-year-old arrived in Australia last week averaging a meagre 32 with the bat since the start of 2020, with only two hundreds in his last 60 innings.

Shastri, who was at the helm of the Indian side for their last visit in 2020-21 when they claimed a 2-1 series victory, said he doubted Kohli was a spent force at Test level, but he had to find a spark.

“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,” Shastri said on Tuesday.

“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.

Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli.
Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli.

“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 he would have preferred India’s first-choice Test players to have taken on an organised opponent in a warm-up game ahead of the series, but thought there would have been careful planning behind the decision to only play an intrasquad game in Perth including members of the India A squad that toured earlier this month.

“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.”

India Men's Internal Practice Match
Virat Kohli bats during the internal practice match between India and India A at the WACA. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Shastri said he expected veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami to be parachuted into the Indian squad “after a couple of Test matches” after he returned to first-class cricket last week following a lengthy injury lay-off.

He also anticipated there would be a key selection call between spin-bowling all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, the latter of whom was introduced to Test cricket by Shastri with great effect during the successful last Australian visit as a 21-year-old.

“They need someone who can bat as well, it’s very important, especially in the first Test in Perth,” he said.

“If (Washington) can just hold one end up for a few overs and then get some runs with the bat, that will be the choice – I would think it would be between Washington and Jadeja.”