Virat Kohli knows exactly what Australia is planning for him: Sanjay Manjrekar

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar feels Virat Kohli already knows what Australia is going to plan against him in the upcoming Test series. Notably, India and Australia are all set to lock horns in a five-match series beginning from November 22 at Perth Stadium, Perth. Ahead of the series, there’s a lot of chatter around star India batter Virat Kohli’s form who’s been having a tough time with the bat in the longest format.

Hence, there will be a lot of scrutiny on Virat Kohli’s performance in the upcoming series given his stellar record in Australia. Recently, Sanjay Manjrekar delved deep into the strategies the Australian bowlers could adopt to dismiss Kohli across the five matches. The former batter said that Kohli will be tested outside his off-stump.

“Virat knows exactly what’s going to be planned. They’ll obviously start with that line outside the off-stump and gauge what his mood is. Generally these days he looks to leave balls outside the off-stump and if they have anything that’s pitched right up, he’ll look to drive,” said Manjrekar on Star Sports.

Further speaking ahead, Manjrekar also highlighted how Kohli has been cramped for room in recent times mentioning how New Zealand attacked the star batter. He also said that Josh Hazlewood could look to attack his pads with the middle stump line but stated that Kohli would be aware of all those tactics.

“Nowadays, they are also trying to cramp him for room and attack his body because he loves to get forward so much. So that is something New Zealand tried, which is very smart. And then if he is so focused outside off, that typical one of landing a ball on middle stump which Josh Hazlewood would try. So all those methods will be tried by the Australians and Virat Kohli is aware of that,” he added.

Virat Kohli’s stellar record in Australia

Kohli hasn’t been in the best of forms in recent times as he scored just 93 runs in the recent three-match Test series against New Zealand which India lost by 0-3. In the ongoing year, Kohli has scored just 250 runs from six Tests at an average of 22.72 with just one half-century to his name.

However, despite his poor outings in recent times, the star batter is expected to notch up big scores in the upcoming series. The 36-year-old loves batting in Australia averaging a staggering 54.08 having scored 1352 runs from 13 matches. Hence, with India in desperate need of runs from Kohli’s bat in the upcoming series, the star batter will be eager to find his ‘midas touch’ back as India enter a crucial series which holds tremendous importance for their World Test Championship (WTC) final chances.