“If you niggle at him, it makes him better”: David Warner once revealed how Australia planned to not sledge Virat Kohli during Border Gavaskar Trophy 2017

The Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 is set to start tomorrow where the 1st Test will be played at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. This is the first Test series in India between both sides after 2017. The series in 2017 was a very close contest, and the Australian team would want to give tough competition to India this time around as well.

Australia surprised everyone by winning the first Test in Pune in 2017, but India managed to win the series 2-1 in the end. The series was in a lot of headlines where Virat Kohli missed the last Test in Dharamsala. Steve Smith’s brain fade moment over a DRS call is still fresh in fans’ minds.

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Whenever there is an India-Australia series, it is certain that there will be a war of words between the matches. However, Australia’s David Warner made confirmed ahead of the series in 2017 that the Australian team will refrain from poking Kohli.

David Warner once revealed how Australia planned to not sledge Virat Kohli

Ahead of the 1st Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2017, David Warner had said that the Australian team will not sledge Kohli as he gets better with the bat when someone pokes him. Warner called Kohli a ‘world-class’ player and said that instead of bantering, the Australian team will focus on their cricket.

Kohli has been one of those players who has never backed out in front of the Australian sledging. He even showed his middle finger to the Australian crowd in 2012 in Sydney.

“For us, it’s about going out there and playing our brand of cricket. Virat Kohli is one of those players, if you niggle at him, it either makes him better or if you get under his skin, he’ll probably get even better. He’s a world-class player at the moment and for us, it’s about going out and playing the best cricket we can,” David Warner had told reporters.

However, the same was not the case at all, the Australian media was all over Kohli in the series, and after the series, Kohli said some harsh words about the Australian players as well. Kohli struggled in the series with the bat as he managed to score just 46 runs in 3 matches at an average of 9.20.