Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, AUS vs IND: Virat Kohli has scored 1352 runs from 13 Tests in Australia. Why Virat Kohli will be a key player in India tour of Australia?
Over the years, Virat Kohli has earned formidable respect from the Australia team and the public. This has come from his aggressive brand as a batter and leader to win India’s maiden red-ball series in their backyard. Once India broke the Gabba fortress, it won a second consecutive Test series in Australia. Thanks to him, India are no longer taken lightly.
The white-line fever for Virat Kohli is absurd. When he crosses the rope and runs into the field, especially against Australia, one can feel the different vibe. His body language, fire in the eyes, and the bridge to the soul turn him into a cricketing beast.
It’s hard to win a Test series in Australia. It becomes supremely tough to gain victory twice. It would be a dream to win three times, and that too at a stretch, but dreams do come true, as the great man has said.
Virat Kohli’s progression in Australia over the years
The very first tour of Australia always demands courage to score runs. The pitches have been flat and batting-friendly, but that doesn’t make it easy to score runs. It needs an ample amount of concentration and mental toughness to face the quality pacers of the opponent.
By the time Kohli made his maiden trip to Australia, he was just around six months old in the longest format. The start of the series in Melbourne wasn’t great, with 11 in the first innings, followed by a first-ball duck. The New Year's Test in Sydney was also a dry one for the Delhi-born.
With so many seniors on the side, it was vital to let the runs come off the blade. The third Test in Perth was better, as he milked 44 and 75 to gain some confidence. By the time India reached Adelaide, they had already lost the series. The nightmarish tour continued, with them being belted for over 600 runs in the first innings. But Kohli had different emotions as he celebrated his maiden Test century in Australia with a 116-run knock.
Despite all his low scores, he was the highest scorer for India in those four games. The youngster smashed 300 runs in eight innings at a dodgy average of 37.50. It showed how tough scoring was in that part of the world. However, the greatness of a batter hides around their comeback.
Returning to the country for the 2014-15 trip, he ended as the second-highest run-getter of the four-match series. 692 runs came off his bat at an average of 86.50, celebrating four centuries and one half-century. On his third trip to Australia in 2018/19, Virat Kohli smacked 282 runs in seven innings. The average of 40.28 didn’t matter much to him, as India registered their maiden series win.
During the 2020-21 tour, he left the country after the first day-night Test in Adelaide due to paternity leave, having scored 78 runs across two innings. Overall, he has scored 1352 runs in 13 Tests in Australia at an average of 53.14. The veteran has recorded six centuries and four fifties with a best score of 169.
Bowlers | Runs | Outs | Average | SR |
Pat Cummins | 96 | 05 | 19.2 | 35.7 |
Mitchell Starc | 236 | 04 | 59 | 59.9 |
Josh Hazlewood | 167 | 03 | 55.7 | 49.9 |
Nathan Lyon | 529 | 07 | 75.6 | 51.5 |
Scott Boland | 10 | 01 | 10 | 27.8 |
Kohli’s experience can help young India batters
It will be important for Virat Kohli to offer a few lessons to the young India batters. A few of the current batch were on the last trip. For a few, it will be their first.
The first quick adjustment for any subcontinent batter to make in Australia is the bounce. In Asian conditions, the expectation is always about the ball coming low, perhaps at a knee height. But in those alien conditions, the tracks are quite fast and bouncy. It challenges the speed of the batter’s trigger movement and how they face the short ball.
Virat has mostly looked to play the ball in the ‘v’ to earn success in Australia. He hardly tries to put the ball in the air, something that the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal or Sarfaraz Khan can learn. Alignment is essential in playing the ball straight.
Many England batters have struggled in Australia because of their backfoot pinned towards the point region. Turning the foot a little to the cover region will help in accessing the ball better with a straight bat. This is something Virat has changed over the years. He would look to pass the knowledge on to the young guns.
Kohli eyes maiden WTC win in 2023-25
India aren’t playing any 50-over games in the next five months. Kohli has already put curtains down in the T20Is. The only focus for the 35-year-old is towards winning the ongoing third cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25, after having missed out on the title in the first two attempts.
For that, the acid test will be the upcoming five-match Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. It would be doubly incredible if India could pull both the BGT and WTC. For that to happen, they need Virat Kohli to stand up with the bat and his aggressive field presence.
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