Former India player turned commentator Parthiv Patel has acknowledged that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s match fitness will be under question in Team India’s upcoming ODI series against Australia as well. However, he added that Kohli might end up as the Player of the Series, stating that Kohli silences his critics whenever he is questioned. Notably, India will face Australia in a three-match ODI series, with the first game taking place in Perth on Sunday, October 19.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Parthiv Patel said, “This question will always be raised when you play after a long time. It will take Virat and Rohit some time. No matter how much you practice, when you go to the ground wearing an India T-shirt, a lot of things take over. Obviously, Rohit has worked a lot on his fitness, and we know how Virat keeps working on his fitness, so that question will never be asked.”

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“The question is about match fitness, as to how you manage yourself on the ground. There is no doubt that they will get used to the atmosphere, but match fitness will definitely be a question. However, whenever questions are asked, Virat Kohli has given solid answers. So I have a prediction. In this three-ODI series, you might see Virat Kohli becoming the Man of the Series,” he further added.

However, Parthiv Patel also opined on whether Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s excellent record against Australia would hold them in good stead as well.

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“Many times you play against a team against whom you consistently score runs, and that’s the case with both of them. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have scored a lot of runs against Australia, not only in India, but also in Australia, but as Aakash (Chopra) and Sanjay Bangar said, it’s right that you cannot prepare for Perth sitting here. You try to create something similar to that, like you can prepare for bounce by playing with a plastic ball on a cement wicket, but the natural variation a surface has, you can figure out the bounce and pace only after going there. So it will take some time for you to adjust,” Parthiv Patel concluded.