Before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Ravi Shastri issues a strong warning to Australia about Virat Kohli.

Before the highly anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri endorsed batting legend Virat Kohli and encouraged him to be a thorn in Australia’s bowling attack. After enduring a protracted dry period in the longest format of the game, Kohli will want to regain his form in the second edition of the ICC World Test Championship.

After a lackluster Test series against Bangladesh, former Indian head coach Shastri is certain that batting legend Kohli would be anxious to redeem himself in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy match against Australia. The former Indian all-rounder has warned the Baggy Greens’ elite bowling attack to be wary of the talismanic batter of the Rohit Sharma-led team.

In a panel discussion hosted by Star Sports, the Border Gavaskar Trophy’s official broadcaster, former India head coach Ravi Shastri said that Kohli’s stellar record would provide him motivation throughout the four-match Test series. “He would be motivated by Kohli’s track record against Australia. He would be fired up and eager to get things going. Look at his first two innings, please. He would be a pain in the flesh for Australians if he gets off to a good start. They definitely wouldn’t want it to occur. With Australia, Kohli’s average was barely around 50. an incredible record, which should truly inspire him, “According to a comment from Shastri.

Since September 2022, the 34-year-old has scored four centuries in international cricket. But since 2019, Kohli has not recorded a Test century. India’s 104 Test matches have been played by the run machine Kohli. In his legendary Test career, the former Indian captain has scored 8,119 runs. In red-ball cricket, the batting prodigy has scored 27 hundred and 28 half-centuries for Team India.

In the next Test series against Australia, one of cricket’s all-time great batsmen, Virat Kohli, will try to improve his performance against spin. In India’s last domestic assignment, Mitchell Santner of New Zealand outwitted Kohli. In two of the 34-year-three-old’s innings against Bangladesh, spinners also claimed the wicket of the batsman.

It’s interesting to note that in Test cricket, senior spinner Nathan Lyon has eliminated Kohli the most times (7). But Kohli has a strong average of 50.42 against the erratic Australian spinner. When Australia visited India in 2017, Kohli had a dismal run, scoring just 46 runs in the three Test matches.

Former Indian captain Kohli has scored 1682 runs in Test matches against Australia at an average of 48.06. Kohli-starrer Team India will meet Pat Cummins-led Australia in the 1st Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday.