Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri said that batting stalwart Virat Kohli should embrace his aggressive persona against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to rediscover his dominant form in Test cricket as well. With the opening Test oset to begin in Perth on Friday, Shastri backs Kohli’s trademark aggression and said that it could be the key to reversing his recent struggles in the longer format as well.

“You mellow with age, don’t you? But I think at the start of the Test series, you might just see Kohli firing again. He needs to be. I’d like to see him like that again,” Shastri said during a press interaction on Tuesday. “In the face-that’s Kohli. Come Australia, he’ll get his juices flowing. It’s all about how he starts, and for Australia, it’s similar to Steve Smith. Don’t write these guys off-if they fire in the first two or three innings, they can dominate the series.”

However, Virat Kohli has been going through a tough phase as he has scored only two tons in the past few years and that has raised questions about his longevity in Test cricket. Shastri, though, firmly dismissed this that Kohli is past his prime. He also believes that the intense rivalry with Australia could reignite Kohli’s competitive edge again.

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Shastri said that he would have preferred India’s top first Test XI to face an organized opponent in a warm-up but trusted the planning behind choosing an intrasquad game with India A members in Perth. “It’s always, ‘how strong will the opposition be?’ That’s the first question you ask (planning a tour game),” he said.

Meanwhile, former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar also feels Virat Kohli will be extra confident in Australia despite his poor form in recent times.

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“Because he hasn’t got runs against New Zealand, he’ll be very, very hungry. Even in that Adelaide Test match, where in the second innings we got all out for 36, in the first innings, Kohli got 70 plus, if I recall correctly, before being run out. He’s consistently performed at Adelaide, so it’s a familiar ground for him. And before Adelaide, it’s Perth, where he played one of the finest Test centuries in 2018-19. A terrific hundred. Having performed on these grounds, he’ll feel that extra bit of confidence. Of course, you need a bit of luck at the start, but if he gets off to a good start, he will get big runs,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports.