Virat Kohli had scored 692 runs with four centuries and one fifty during the 2014/15 tour.
India head coach Ravi Shastri feels that captain Virat Kohli is now much more matured player and person than he was when India last toured Australia.
Shastri believes the responsibility of captaincy has made Kohli a lot more matured and that he is no longer the batsman he was in 2014-15.
“He loves coming to Australia. He is passionate about his game. The pitches here suit his style of play and once you’ve done well in this part of the world, you always want to come out and do well again,” Shastri said of Kohli during the team’s first practice session at the GABBA.
“It’s a great place to play cricket. They’ve played hard and the sporting public appreciates tough and challenging cricket.”
Kohli has been been in the form of his life recently scoring almost at will against all opposition.
Virat Kohli had scored 692 runs with four centuries and one fifty during the 2014/15 tour. However, he was more remembered for his agressive attitude during the tour.
Kohli was involved in an altercation with former Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, who inadvertently, while aiming for the stumps, threw the ball back which hit Kohli on the shoulder. Johnson and Kohli got in each other’s faces and the umpires had to intervene.
Kohli showing the middle finger during the tour before that – in 2011-12 – is also itched in memory of cricket fans.
“He is a professional. He’s matured than what you saw him four years ago. Since then, he has captained the side. That alone comes with a tag of responsibility, which has fit well on his shoulders and he’s adjusted extremely well. But he will not take his foot off the pedal, that’s for sure,” added Shastri.
India’s team composition hasn’t changed much from the last time they were here. Apart from Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin and Murali Vijay are some of the names what toured Australia in 2014-15.
Shastri feels that the players’ experience of having played in Australia bodes well for the team.
“Nucleus of the team is pretty much the same so if we look experience wise, they’ve trained and toured a lot over the last four years. They’ve learned from the mistakes they’ve made in some of the earlier tours and that keeps them in good stead,” Shastri said.
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