Virat Kohli reveals his ‘fiery’ mantra while facing Australia: Need to elevate

Virat Kohli has always been fired up, especially when facing a team like Australia. It’s truly fire meeting fire, as Kohli leaves no chance to give it back to the mighty Australians, whether playing at home or away. The star batter revealed that he has come to understand the mentality of Australian players and praised them for their mindset and unified approach. Kohli pointed out that one needs to elevate their game to beat a team like Australia, known for being highly competitive and strategically fine-tuned. In 25 Test matches against Australia, Kohli has scored 2,042 runs at an average of 47.48, with eight hundreds.
“I think that mindset is very clear to me. That they are such a competitive team that 11 people on one page and everyone knows what’s going on in the game and even if they get an inch of it then they will try to capitalise. So my motivation increases more against this team who have been aware enough, present at all times. Their skill-set is high and also so competitive that I’ll need to elevate myself to defeat them. Otherwise, the motivation, the drive and the awareness that they have, they won’t even give you a chance to come back into the game,” Kohli said in a video posted by Star Sports.
The upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy series will mark another chapter in the storied rivalry between India and Australia. The Pat Cummins-led side will host India for a five-match Test series, starting November 22 in Perth. This is the first time since 1991 that the two teams will play 5 Tests against each other.
Kohli resonated with the competitive spirit ingrained within the Australian team.
“So because of these reasons, I have always taken my games to another level due to situations. Because their energy or perspective in-game made me understand how competitive it is. And for defeating them, you need to elevate your competitiveness. So I think, naturally, since I am very competitive, if you want to win against the opposition, then you’ll have to find new ways and every team has a different way of playing. So this thing always worked for me, when it came down to Australia and that’s because they play cricket in such an intense manner. I want to take it on next level,” he added.
India have won the last four editions of the Border Gavaskar Trophy series since 2017, which also includes two Test series wins on Australian soil.