Virat Kohli's haters & doubters, including Ricky Ponting, buried by Ravi Shastri ahead of BGT 2024-25

Former India National Cricket Team head coach Ravi Shastri sent a strong message to the doubters of Virat Kohli ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He said that the King of Cricket is back in his territory and even Australia National Cricket Team bowlers would be aware of that.

India National Cricket Team will be taking on Australia National Cricket Team in the five-match Test series. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 will be beginning on 22nd November at the WACA Stadium and will be extremely important for both teams in the context of the ICC World Test Championship.

The spotlight will be on Virat Kohli as the batter has come under massive pump for his poor outings

The spotlight will be on Kohli as the batter has come under massive pump for his poor outings of late. But with the kind of player he is and the impact that he has made in the Australian conditions, one cannot write him off. When chips have been down, he has always thrived under pressure, and something similar is expected this time too.

Kohli, who for the first time in a long was dropped out of the Top 20 rankings, looked in horrible form in the Test season at home. He failed in both the series against the Bangladesh National Cricket Team and the New Zealand National Cricket Team, averaging only 21.33 across five Test matches.

This has seen Virat Kohli facing a lot of criticism and also his place in the team has been under scanner as well. There have been reports that have claimed that if he fails to perform in the Test series against the Australia National Cricket Team, he will be dropped from the team.

Well, the King is back in his territory - Ravi Shastri on Virat Kohli

Ravi Shastri feels that Kohli is back in his territory and he has earned the title of King of Cricket by proving his worth with bat in the Australian conditions. Speaking to Sanjana Ganesan on the most recent episode of The ICC Review, he explained:

"Well, the King is back in his territory. That's all I will tell them. When you've earned that title after your exploits in Australia, it will be on your (opponent's) mind when you go out to bat.”

Your juices are flowing, you're charged up - Ravi Shastri on Virat Kohli

Ravi Shastri further stressed that Virat Kohli should be watchful early on in his innings, and if he manages to play the game at his own pace, then there would be no stopping. Talking about the same, he elaborated:

“Your juices are flowing, you're charged up. It's again a case with Virat. You want to see calmness because, at times, you are overeager to get out there and throw the first punch.

“But I think that calmness in the first half an hour where he gets out to bat or in the first three innings of the series will be extremely important. If he can be calm and play the game at his own pace rather than being in a hurry, I think he'll be fine.”

Virat Kohli has been extremely successful in the Tests in Australia. He slammed a brilliant ton in Adelaide in his first-ever Test tour in 2011/12 and, after that, slammed 692 runs at 86.50 from his four Tests during his second visit in 2014. In 2018/19, he captained India to their first-ever series win in Australia and also hit 123 in Perth.

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