Sydney: Virat Kohli, the focus of most of the attention ahead of the Australia v India Test series, feels he is a lot calmer than he was the last time he travelled to the country.
Kohli has played Test cricket in Australia during the 2011-12 tour, and then in 2014-15. His record there is fantastic 992 runs in eight Tests at an average of 62, with five centuries. Four of those came on the last tour, when he batted at a plane higher than his teammates.
But for Kohli, who became full-time Indian Test captain during that tour, the match-ups were also characterised by staring contests with the bowlers, especially Mitchell Johnson. He hasn't lost his aggression, but the passage of time has made him calmer, he feels.
“I think from last time round, I've become more assured of myself, I don't really find the need to prove anything to anyone ... I don't find the need to get involved in anything with the opposition and I think those are changes that keep happening gradually as you go forward,” Kohli said in a chat with Private Sports Radio channel.
India are the No.1 side in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings, and though they haven't won series in the countries considered the toughest to tour for teams from the subcontinent, they have competed hard, an ICC report on Sunday said.
“Now the focus is purely and solely on making the team win at any cost,” Kohli said ahead of the series of four Tests, which many feel gives India their best chance of trumping Australia in their backyard.
India warmed up for the first Test, starting in Adelaide on December 6, with a four-day game against a Cricket Australia XI, in which Kohli was one of five Indians to score a half-century in the first innings. He also picked up the wicket of centurion Harry Nielsen with his medium pace. (UNI)