‘Be little more aggressive’ - Irfan Pathan’s advice for Virat Kohli to counter Australian spinners

Ahead of the forthcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, former India pacer Irfan Pathan opined that Virat Kohli will need to be "aggressive" in order to counter spin. Kohli’s miseries against spin has been a worrisome aspect as the batter has unable to play his natural game and has been dismissed against them on numerous occasions.

Even in the most recent red-ball series against Bangladesh in December, the flamboyant right-hander’s struggles were seemingly visible. Furthermore, Kohli was dismissed by Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan across the two Test matches. With this, Irfan Pathan advised the former India skipper to play aggressively to counter the likes of Nathan Lyon and Ashton Agar in the forthcoming series.

“One thing he (Virat Kohli) will be keeping in his mind is how he’s going to be countering the spin of (Nathan) Lyon as well as (Ashton) Agar. Because he has been struggling against spin specially and I think one thing he can do personally as well is to try and be a little more aggressive because I think the strike rate against spin has come down as well," Irfan said while speaking on Star Sports.

Being aggressive makes you better in that encounter against spin: Irfan Pathan

As Rohit Sharma and Co. gear up for the crucial clash against the Aussies, Kohli will look to overcome his failures against spin and aim for the big runs. Irfan further reiterated that being slightly aggressive against the spinners despite playing in Test cricket will help the batter in the duel.

"I know we are talking about Test cricket here, but sometimes he must be slightly more aggressive against spin, it might make you better in that encounter when you're actually facing guys like Nathan Lyon who is outstanding with his spin, extra bounce and he gets that ball moving away from the right hander as well. So, I think that's one thing he should keep in mind,” added Irfan.

India and fierce rivals Australia will engage in a four-match Test series scheduled to commence on February 9. Both teams will be hungry to secure a berth in the finals of the World Test Championship 2021-23 cycle.