• Home
  • Who Said What
  • The King Is Back Ravi Shastri Backs Virat Kohli To Regain Form In Bgt 2024 25

‘The King Is Back…’- Ravi Shastri Backs Virat Kohli To Regain Form In BGT 2024-25

Aakash Saini

Virat Kohli had a forgettable series vs New Zealand at home [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/x]Virat Kohli had a forgettable series vs New Zealand at home [Source: @mufaddal_vohra/x]

Virat Kohli has arrived in Perth alongside the rest of his teammates for India’s upcoming Border-Gavaskar Test series against hosts Australia. The legendary Indian batter recently underwent a series to forget against New Zealand at home, where he managed to tally just 93 runs across six innings of the three Test matches at a substandard average of 15.50.

Moreover, Kohli punched out 70 of those runs in a single innings in Bengaluru, albeit in a losing cause for Team India. As India’s star batter struggles to regain his lost touch with the bat, former coach and prominent commentator Ravi Shastri has now backed the 36-year-old to come up clutch against Australia at the latter’s backyard in the upcoming series.

Ravi Shastri shares advice for Virat Kohli

Ravi Shastri has shared a sterling message for Virat Kohli’s doubters, as the legendary Indian cricketer preps himself up for the upcoming Test series against Australia. While speaking with Sanjana Ganesan on the latest episode of the ICC Review, Shastri recalled Kohli’s past track record in Australia, and claimed that the hosts will be wary of his presence despite his lacklustre run with the bat off late. He said:

“Well, the King is back in his territory. That's all I will tell them. When you've earned that title after your exploits in Australia, it will be on your (opponent's) mind when you go out to bat.”

Ravi Shastri also advised Virat Kohli to be extra cautious in the first 30 minutes in each of his first three innings against Australia to set a positive tone for the rest of the series. He added:

“Your juices are flowing, you're charged up. It's again a case with Virat. You want to see calmness because at times you are overeager to get out there and throw the first punch. But I think that calmness in the first half an hour where he gets out to bat or in the first three innings of the series will be extremely important. If he can be calm and play the game at his own pace rather than being in a hurry, I think he'll be fine.”

Virat Kohli holds a prolific batting average of 54.08 in Australia after playing 13 Tests. He has racked up 1,352 runs in Australia so far in just 25 innings with six hundreds and four half-centuries.

However, Kohli’s batting form has taken a huge slump with a string of dry scores in the past 10 innings against Bangladesh and New Zealand at home. In a bid for Team India to pursue redemption after their horror show against New Zealand, it is imperative for Kohli to return back to his usual run-scoring ways.

The first of the five Tests between Australia and the visiting Indian team will be played at the Optus Stadium in Perth from November 22 onwards.