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Shane Watson wanred the Australian team that provoking Virat Kohli has often proved to be counterproductive.
Virat Kohli will be expected to lead the batting unit for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. (BCCI Photo)
Shane Watson warned the Australian cricket team not to provoke Virat Kohli, adding that it will make him bring his best out against them in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Kohli has a great record in Australia and despite his recent lean patch will want to regain his touch in the five-match Test series.
“The one thing that I know of Virat is… because the fire burns so brightly and deep inside him, the intensity he brings to every ball that he is engaged in a game has been superhuman,” Watson was quoted as saying on the Willow Talk podcast.
“But, there have been in recent times where moments in this career that fire has started to go out because it is just so hard to maintain that intensity in every moment he is involved in a game.
“And, that is where Australia have to leave him alone and hope he doesn’t bring the intensity — nine out of 10 intensity — to every ball.”
Kohli has scored 1,352 runs, with the help of six centuries and four fifties and a top score of 169, at an average of 54.08 from 13 Tests in Australia since 2011.
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While this would be his fifth tour Down Under in the longest format, Kohli’s best outing came during the 2014-15 series when he aggregated 692 runs in four Tests at an average of 86.50, including four hundreds and a half-century.
“We have seen that when he has had success in Australia, he is up and above for everything in the middle. Every ball he is up for every single moment.
“You can see the fierce intensity that he brings, and if he gets that, then it shuts everything else out. That is when he is at his absolute best.
“If there is stuff happening around and that intensity is not there, that is when you will see the not-so-best version of Virat. So from an Australian perspective, let’s hope we get to see that version of him,” Watson said.
Kohli’s performance in the red-ball format this year has been below par, managing just 70 runs in six Tests at an average of 22.72.
(With inputs from Agencies)
