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Virat Kohli has not been in the best of form of late but Glenn McGrath has warned the Australian side from having a go at the Indian icon which could spark a return to form.
The legendary Australian fast-bowler, Glenn McGrath feels that his former side has the quality to get the better of India in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 where the two sides are set to take on a five-match Test series, starting in Perth from November 22.
For the past decade, Australia has not been able to get the better of India in the Border-Gavaskar series with India having won two tours of Australia. But the side led by Pat Cummins will look to put that losing streak to bed in the upcoming series and McGrath also feels confident about Aussie’s chances.
“Without a doubt, especially after coming off a 3-0 loss against New Zealand, you’ve got plenty of ammunition to back yourself up,” Fox Cricket quoted McGrath as saying on ‘CODE Sports’.
“So put the pressure on them and see if they’re up for it,” he added.
Among the biggest concerns in the Indian unit is the form of Virat Kohli who has not been up to his high standards with the bat. His lack of runs in 2024 has been a massive cause for concern and the recent Test series against New Zealand has put pressure on Kohli’s abilities to perform.
But McGrath has warned Australia to not target Kohli aggressively as he believes that could be the spark that lights him and get back to his best scoring form.
“If they go hard at him, if he gets in the fight with emotions, there’s a bit of chat out there, who knows he might sort of lift,” said the 54-year-old former Australia pacer who took 563 Test wickets from 124 matches between 1993 and 2007,” he shared.
“But I think he’s probably under pressure a little bit, and if he has a couple of low scores to start with, he could feel it. I think he’s quite an emotional player. When he’s up, he’s up, and when he’s down, he sort of struggles a little bit,” McGrath added.
Kohli has historically performed well in Australia as the 36-year-old has an average of 54.08 across the four Australian tours he has been a part of which shows that he could make a return to scoring the big runs for the Indian team.
(with PTI Inputs)