Former Australian skipper, Ricky Ponting reckons that the Indian skipper Virat Kohli can be “rattled” and Australia should try to get under his skin rather than sitting back and be bullied by him. India will take on Australia in the four-Test series commencing in Adelaide on Thursday and former Australia batsman Dean Jones has advised against provoking Kohli.
Talking his point further, Ponting said: “Well, he might. I don’t necessarily believe that he is someone you shouldn’t try to get under his skin. I have seen him rattled. Mitchell Johnson definitely rattled him a few times with some good hostile bowling and some good hostile body language around him. So, I would not sit back and let anyone bully. The way we go about playing cricket, especially at home, it is about good strong body language. That is the way Australians have always played their best.”
Ponting, under whom Australia dominated world cricket, said it would be “rubbish” if the current squad doesn’t play with an aggressive mindset.
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India lost the four-Test series 0-2 in 2014 but Virat went on to score as many as 692 runs at an average of 86.25, including four centuries. Had he been the skipper, Ponting says he wouldn’t have allowed Kohli to get a good start.
The former skipper further elaborated, “With someone like him who likes to score freely, he has obviously got a big ego, there are other things you can do. Don’t let him score boundaries early on. He also likes to run the ball down to the third man so maybe play around with guys behind the wicket in different areas, just get inside his head as to what we are trying to do. Another thing I will be doing is going back and looking at who has had the most success against him and why.”
Ponting also said that despite the fact that the former Australian teams of the past have always had few words to say but it was always on the back of some good hostile bowling, you can’t do without it. The current squad also got to use your actions and skills.
