Border Gavaskar Trophy: ‘He would be a thorn in the flesh for Aussies’ says Ravi Shastri about Virat Kohli

Speaking of the batter’s record against the Australians, Shastri said: “Kohli has an average of just under 50 against Australia. Amazing record, that should really get him going.”

Kohli has scored 1682 runs at an average of 48.06 in 20 Test matches against Australia. He has seven centuries against them.

However, the right-hander struggled against them when the Kangaroos toured here last time in 2017. In the three Test matches he played in, Kohli just scored 46 runs at an average of 9.20

Since his last 100 in Test match cricket in 2019, Kohli averages 23.60 and has only played 23 Tests during this period. Shastri was asked if the amount of red ball cricket Kohli has played in the last few years would be a factor against him. To this, Shastri retorted: “Who has played a lot of red-ball cricket in the last few months in the Indian team?”

The first Test between the sides will start on Thursday in Nagpur. Amidst speculations about the pitch to be rank turner reports from the Indian camp suggest the team is considering playing all four spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.

Australia opted not to play any practice games and had their preparation in training camp at Alur in Banglore to counter the Indian spin contingent.

The Aussies haven’t beaten India in a Test series since 2015. India, on the other hand, has a chance of qualifying for the World Test Championship final by beating the Aussies.