‘Bowlers hope to get Kohli in a switched off mood & take advantage’

Mumbai, July 4 (SocialNews.XYZ) Sledging Virat Kohli is a red zone for most teams as they look to avoid a confrontation as that brings the best out of the run-machine and Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood has admitted the same while speaking about the India skipper.

Speaking on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, Australia pacer Hazlewood threw light on bowling to the Team India captain Kohli. "I think we try to probably stay clear of engagement, obviously. I think that was fully evident throughout the series. I think he likes to get in that tussle and it probably brings out the best in him, especially when he's batting, that was always a no-go-zone for the bowlers.

"I think it's a different case if the guys are batting and he's in the field, you know they can get him engaged there and sort of work him out a little bit if possible, but certainly when he was batting, it was just leaving him to his own devices, and hopefully, we get him in a bit of a switched off mood and take advantage of that."

Earlier, former Australia skipper Steve Smith had spoken about how Kohli has been brilliant in both scoring runs as well as leading the Indian team.

"Yeah, he is terrific. His batting numbers just speak for themselves. I think he's an incredible player in all three formats and I think we will see him break many records. He's already broken plenty of them and I see him breaking many more over the years. He has got the hunger for runs and doesn't stop getting them. Hopefully, he can stop getting them against Australia, that'll be nice.

"As a captain he's already made India the number one side in the world in Test cricket. From what I have seen he sets really good standards for them. He is a lot about fitness and is health conscious and things like that. He's got the Indian side into a really good place and leads them exceptionally well," the 30-year-old pointed.

Source: IANS