Veteran India cricketer Irfan Pathan feels that Virat Kohli should bat with an aggressive approach against the likes of Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. The big test awaits for India as they are all set to face Australia in the four-match Test series which will be crucial for them to qualify for the World Test Championship for the second successive time.
In recent times, Kohli hasn’t been able to play the spinners comfortably, he was dismissed by Mitchell Santner on a couple of occasions in recently concluded ODIs against New Zealand. Meanwhile, he also struggled a bit against spin during Bangladesh Tests last year and was dismissed twice against them.
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The 34-year-old will be facing a tough match-up against Nathan Lyon in the upcoming Test matches and Pathan suggested Kohli to put pressure on the off-spinner by adopting an aggressive approach.
“So, the one thing he will be keeping in his mind is how he’s going to be countering the spin of Lyon as well as Agar. Because he has been struggling against spin specially and I think one thing he can do personally as well is to try and be a little more aggressive, because I think the strike rate against spin has come down as well. I know we are talking about Test cricket here, but sometimes he must be slightly more aggressive against spin, it might make you better in that encounter when you’re actually facing guys like Nathan Lyon who is outstanding with his spin, extra bounce and he gets that ball moving away from the right hander as well. So, I think that’s one thing he should keep in mind,” Pathan said on Star Sports show ‘Game Plan’.
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Several players like KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav are also expected to get their debut caps in the Test series against the in-form Australian side. Pathan, who himself made his Test debut versus Australia, suggested that there will be pressure on the debutants but they should take up the challenge and make it memorable.
“I think pressure is there for sure, but it is very exciting playing against Australia, playing against one of the best teams in the world. Because when I played my first game against Australia, in Australia, that was a champion side. But I can’t forget that we won that test match after 21 years. So, that’s the kind of history you make and you create and it stays with you forever. So, I think those players will be looking to do that as well, looking to be very excited for the challenge which is going to come in front of them,” he added.
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