“He’s a solid player”: Virat Kohli shortlists Indian batsman who he expects to do well in Australia Tests

Virat Kohli shortlists Indian batsman: The Indian captain has shortlisted two batsmen who according to him will do well in the Test series.

India captain Virat Kohli has said that his team would “love to” retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the imminent four-match Test series against Australia starting with a day-night Test with the pink ball in Adelaide from tomorrow.

Speaking in an one-on-one chat with Australia batsman Steven Smith on 7 Cricket, Kohli also pointed at testing the Indian team against a much “stronger” Australian squad this time.

“We’d love to [retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy]. Last time around, it was a great series for us. I know you and Davey [David Warner] didn’t play but we still played against this bowling attack which was as lethal as you’ve had in the last few years.

“Now that you guys have an even stronger squad allows us to test ourselves again in these conditions and see how good we’ve been as a team over the last one and a half years or so,” Kohli told Smith.

Virat Kohli shortlists Indian batsman

While Smith wasn’t shy about admitting that he wanted to be Australia’s highest run-scorer in the series, Kohli shortlisted a couple of Indian batsmen who he believes would shine especially in his absence in the last three Tests.

“It could be anyone. I’m quite excited to see how Jinks [Ajinkya Rahane] goes. I think he’s someone who’ll enjoy the responsibility of captaining when I’m away. He has played well here in the past. It’s his time to really step up and I think he’ll relish that opportunity.

“One guy I’m really looking forward to see bat here is Hanuma Vihari. I think he’s a quite solid player and quite exciting,” Kohli said.

In 13 Tests against Australia till date, Rahane’s 822 runs have come at a moderate average of 37.36. Rahane, who is on his third tour of Australia, has done comparatively better down under with his 616 runs coming at 44 including a century and four half-centuries.

Vihari, on the other hand, had played three Tests in Australia during India’s previous tour. While the 27-year old player hadn’t scored much, he was lauded for spending time in the middle after being the makeshift opener and dismissing opposition batsmen with his off-breaks.

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