'He’s probably under pressure a little bit' - Glenn McGrath on Virat Kohli ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Looking at his recent form struggles in Test cricket, Australian bowling legend Glenn McGrath suggested that the Australian team should target Virat Kohli's emotional vulnerabilities ahead of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series. The 36-year-old's performance in red-ball cricket this year has been concerning.

Notably, Kohli has averaged 22.73 with just one fifty to his name so far. The former India Captain's recent struggles were particularly evident in the New Zealand series, where he failed to cross double digits in four out of six innings. McGrath mentioned a significant analysis of Kohli's current issue. 

“Without a doubt, especially after coming off a 3-0 loss against New Zealand, you’ve got plenty of ammunition to back yourself up. So put the pressure on them and see if they’re up for it," McGrath told CODE Sports (via Fox Cricket).

Besides, the Australian team's approach to handling Kohli has changed over the years. Opener Usman Khawaja recently said that though the players can have a laugh with the Indian star, eventually he scores tons of runs once in his zone.

"It's a very different Virat now, so you can go and have a joke with him, (but) he still scores runs against you," Khawaja told cricket.com.au.

Virat Kohli is quite an emotional player

Furthermore, Glenn McGrath also emphasized on the psychological aspect of the upcoming Test series, pointing out that Australia has plenty of ammunition following India's recent 3-0 loss to the Kiwis. He believes that this could be leveraged to test Kohli's mental toughness, especially if he starts the series poorly.

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“If they go hard at him, if he gets in the fight with emotions, there’s a bit of chat out there, who knows he might sort of lift. But I think he’s probably under pressure a little bit, and if he has a couple of low scores to start with, he could really feel it. I think he’s quite an emotional player. When he’s up, he’s up, and when he’s down, he sort of struggles a little bit," McGrath added.

Meanwhile, the Indian team has been preparing hard for the first Test match, set to begin on November 22, in Perth.