Indian national cricket team player Virat Kohli is making sure that he is giving his all to prepare for the fourth match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The Boxing Day Test match between the two teams will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne from December 26.
Virat Kohli has come under serious scrutiny after the low-scoring series in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The batsman, after slamming a century in the first match of the series in Perth, has not been at his best and has struggled to get going in the last two matches.
Virat Kohli has started delivering overseas in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Kohli, since the last two matches, has been coming out to deliveries outside off. The opening batsman has struggled to get going, and his poor technique with outside balls has led to his downfall in the last two matches at Adelaide and the Gabba.
In the pink ball Test at Adelaide Oval, he edged out Starc and then Josh Hazlewood's replacement Scott Bolland. In the Gabba Test, he drove the ball towards cover against Hazlewood. This led to him being widely criticized for his style.
However, to counter the threat of balls outside the off-stump, Virat Kohli makes sure he does everything. In Tuesday's training session (December 24), his primary focus was on those balls as he looked to negotiate the threat ahead of the MCG Test.
Kohli asked pacers Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna to bowl to him outside the off-stump. The batsman was also seen asking the bowlers to bowl fast as he complimented them for bowling well and practiced the shoulder arm so that the bowler does not find an edge even if there is extra bounce.
Virat Kohli asks Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna to bowl for him outside off stump into the nets
Here is the video:
Virat Kohli has a great track record at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
In the last 4 overs, Kohli scored just 26 runs as Australia's spinners managed to trouble him in the same channel. However, the opening batsman has been working hard and it won't be a surprise if he ends up playing a massive knock in the next match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
Virat Kohli has a great track record at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The batsman scored 316 runs from six innings at an average of 52.66. During his last visit, he scored 82 runs in the first innings, followed by a four-ball duck in the second innings.
The Indian team has had a good record at the MCG recently. They have not lost a Test at the stadium since 2011. The Rohit Sharma-led team will be keen to maintain the same record and win the match to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
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