AUS v IND 2018-19: Plans firmly in place to stop Virat Kohli, warns Mitchell Marsh

The all-rounder confirmed, though, that the hosts aren't taking any focus away from rest of the Indian batting line-up.

Would forgive them for being extra determined for him, Virat's been absolutely magnificent this year | Getty

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh has reaffirmed that Australia has some genuinely strong tactical plans in store to execute against the might of Virat Kohli during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting Thursday, December 6.

Gearing up for the four-match Test series, while Marsh reiterated that it would be "silly" if the hosts take their focus away from rest of the talented visitors' batting line-up, there has definitely been an increased scrutiny and strategising into the areas to bowl to the Indian skipper.

"We all know Virat’s a great player. We’ll have our plans for him and hopefully, we can execute them. But if people think we’re not prepared for the other batsmen in the Indian team, who are all very good players, then they’d be pretty silly," Marsh was quoted on Tuesday, December 4.

Before clearing that even without Steve Smith and David Warner, the Aussies are confident of coming out victorious from the battle.

The 27-year-old said, "There’s obviously been a lot of talk about that and it’s been a big build-up to this Test match but there’s a great feeling around this group...now it’s about going out there and hopefully putting it together as a batting unit. But we all feel really good at the moment."

On the threat that India's spin trio posess for Adelaide, Marsh feels, "We know R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav are all world-class spinners. History shows that Indian spinners haven’t had as much impact over here as they have in India. But they’re world-class bowlers and we’re very prepared for them. It will be a great contest."

Intent on casting aside the dark shadows of the ball-tampering saga and looking forward to, perhaps, a new dawn in Australian Cricket, Marsh further noted, "We want to play an exciting brand of cricket that people want to come and watch. We know there’s going to be a lot of Indian fans here too, so that’s always exciting to play in front of them. But we are just pumped to get back playing in front of our fans."

"It was a very good cricket wicket(when he played against South Australia recently in the Sheffield Shield). We(Western Australia) won the toss and bowled first. During the four-day game, In Test cricket, you get the extra day where the wicket can potentially break up. And there was enough in it with the new ball to take wickets. Once you got in, it was Adelaide Oval. It was very even for both sides, I thought," he signed off.

(WITH INPUTS FROM PTI)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 04 Dec, 2018

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