India and Australia are set to clash this month for a three-match T20I series. The first T20I will be played on November 21, followed by a four-match Test series starting on December 6. All eyes will be on the longer format as it is said to be India's best chance to win the Test series in Australia.
On the other side, Kangaroos will have to stop the megaforce, Virat Kohli, if they want to compete without their star players.
To keep Kohli silent, South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has an advice for the Aussies. He said it's good for Australia if they don't fan the fire or consequences can be brutal.
Faf wants Australia to give Virat a silent treatment and avoid provoking him with words. “There are guys like that in international cricket (who enjoy the confrontation),” Du Plessis said. “We feel like that when we play against someone like Virat Kohli. He’s a similar character, he wants to get into the fight. There are one or two guys in each team around the world that we as a team discuss before playing against them. We’re like, ‘better not say too much to him because you’ll get him going’.
“He’s an amazing player. We gave him the silent treatment and he still scored runs in South Africa, but we felt like it was not huge runs – he scored the one hundred there in Centurion when the wicket was slow. So every team will have what they think works – for us, that was silent treatment.”
Unlike England, Kohli is going to Australia with a good past record. He scored 692 runs at an average of 86.50 with four centuries against Australia last series. He was the second highest scorer in the series, behind Steve Smith.
“When it comes to getting engaged in an argument on the field or you are in a fight, as people want to call it excitedly, I’ve been completely okay with playing without an altercation,” Kohli said.
“I am very happy within my own space, so on a personal level, I don’t find the need to go and find these things anymore. I have enough belief in my abilities that I can play without a reason to pump myself up. Those were very immature things I used to feed on in the early days of my career so that I can get pumped up and then I don’t necessarily feel all that pressure.”
