Virat Kohli promised to grind it out in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne to get back amongst runs in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The former India captain accepted that he hadn't been disciplined enough in the last two Tests. After getting his 30th Test century in the second innings of the first Test in Perth, Kohli has registered scores of 7, 11 and 3 in the next two Tests in Adelaide and Brisbane. In all four innings in this series, Kohli has got out while fishing outside the off stump, a temptation that has cost him a lot in the last five or six years in this form of the game.
Kohli said he takes pride in rising to the challenge of Test cricket in different conditions and would look to bring that quality into play in the remaining two Tests of this series.
"The last 2-3 innings haven't gone the way I wanted them to. As I said, haven't been disciplined enough to stick in there and grind out. That is the challenge of Test cricket. These pitches are much more livelier than the last times we played here. There is a different approach required, but that is something I have taken a lot of pride in, as I want to counter different conditions and step up when the team needs me to. The idea is to get stuck in there, get your eye set in, play enough balls, but respect the conditions," Kohli told former India coach Ravi Shastri before the start of play on Thursday.
Kohli has decent memories of playing the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. "A special place. Right from my first tour, I understood the occasion of the Boxing Day Test. Good memories, On the last tour that I played here, we won and took the lead in the series, so that was memorable. In 2014/15 got a ton here. Pretty special memories across formats," he said.
The legendary cricketer said India would have taken the 1-1 result in the series at he end of the third Test if they were told the same before the start of the series.
"Expectations are always going to be there. What is important is to understand your own plans. My idea is to follow my game plan and stay disciplined. Understanding the situation of the game has brought me success. I really understand what the team needs from me. If I walk in early, it's a different situation than capitalising and stretching the advantage."
"If you would've told us we were going to be 1-1, we would've taken it with both hands," Kohli added.
India made an interesting change in their XI for the fourth Test, bringing all-rounder Washington Sundar in the team in place of Shubman Gill. Australia, on the other hand, gave a debut to Sam Konstas at the top of the order in place of Nathan McSweeney, while Scott Boland replaced the injured Josh Hazlewood.
Read more news like this on https://www.ncrjournal.com/all-news/categories/sports-news-and-highlights
Commentaires