“When he’s up, he’s up, and when he’s down, he sort of struggles a little bit” – Glenn McGrath backs Australia to go hard at Virat Kohli

Former Australia’s fast bowler Glenn McGrath wants the Pat Cummins’ team to get under the skin of Virat Kohli in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar trophy. Kohli isn’t in the best of forms in the recent past and he will need to turn the tables against Australia.

Kohli could only score 93 runs in three Test matches at an average of 15.50 whereas he scored only 99 runs in two Test matches against Bangladesh at an average of 33. 

However, Kohli has scored 2042 runs in 25 Test matches against Australia at an average of 47.48, including eight centuries. Kohli has even better numbers while playing in Australia as he has scored 1352 runs in 13 Test matches at an impressive average of 54.08, including six centuries. 

McGrath agreed when he was asked if Australia should go hard at under-fire Virat Kohli.

“Without a doubt, especially after coming off a 3-0 loss against New Zealand, you’ve got plenty of ammunition to back yourself up. So put the pressure on them and see if they’re up for it,” McGrath told CODE Sports (via Fox Cricket).

“If they go hard at him, if he gets in the fight with emotions, there’s a bit of chat out there, who knows he might sort of lift. But I think he’s probably under pressure a little bit, and if he has a couple of low scores to start with, he could really feel it. I think he’s quite an emotional player. When he’s up, he’s up, and when he’s down, he sort of struggles a little bit,” McGrath said about Kohli.

On the other hand, Australian opener Usman Khawaja reckons Virat Kohli has changed drastically and his aggression has come down a bit.

“It’s a very different Virat now, so you can go and have a joke with him … (but) he still scores runs against you,” Usman Khawaja told cricket.com.au recently.

The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.