Indian national cricket team batsman Virat Kohli is making sure to give his all to prepare for the fourth match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The Boxing Day test match between the teams will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne from December 26.
Virat Kohli has come under serious scrutiny after the series of low scores in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The batsman, after making a hundred in the series opener in Perth, has not been at his best and has struggled to get going in the last two games.
Virat Kohli has been delivering in the open in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
Kohli, since the last two matches, has been making deliveries from outside off. The opening batsman has struggled to get going, and his poor approach to 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 Boland. In the Gabba Test, he drove the ball into cover against Hazlewood. This has caused him to be widely criticized for his approach.
However, to counter the menace of balls outside the off-stump, Virat Kohli makes sure to go all out. In Tuesday’s (December 24) practice session, his main focus was on these balls as he looked to negotiate the threat ahead of the MCG Test.
Kohli asked pacers Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna to bowl him outside off stump. The batsman was also seen asking the pacers to bowl fast while congratulating them for bowling well and practicing arm movement so that the bowler would not find an advantage even if there was extra bounce.
Virat Kohli asks Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna to bowl him outside in nets
Here is the video:
Virat Kohli has a great career at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Kohli, in the last 4 innings, scored only 26 runs as Australia’s pacers managed to trouble him in the same channel. The opener batsman, however, has been working very hard and it will not be a surprise if he ends up delivering a big knock in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 match.
Virat Kohli has a great track record at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The batsman has scored 316 runs in 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 a good record of late at the MCG. They have not lost a Test at this venue since 2011. The Rohit Sharma-led team would be keen to maintain the same record and win the match to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
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