'Don’t get into verbal battle with Kohli' - Jason Gillespie advises Australian team

Former Australia pacer, Jason Gillespie, has advised the Australian team not to get into a verbal battle with Indian skipper Virat Kohli during the upcoming ODI series. Australia is set to lock horns with the Team India who are on a rampage in limited-overs cricket right now. The battle is being considered as the fight for the top spot as the team that wins the series will conquer the No. 1 position in ODIs.

Gillespie also believes that the current Australian unit has the capability to stop the Indian juggernaut. The legendary bowler was a member of the dominating Australian side in the early 2000s and has troubled the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid at their peak. Currently, he is the coach of Papua New Guinea, who are trying to make their mark in cricket.

Virat Kohli is an amazing player

In an exclusive interview with Times of India, the former Australian cricketer claimed Kohli is an amazing player and advised the Steve Smith led side to not get into verbal battles with him which might come back to haunt them.

“Kohli is an amazing player. Once the field spreads, he can bat safely. I don’t think Australia need to get into a verbal battle or get into staring competitions with Kohli. The best way to put him under pressure is through disciplined bowling,” the former assistant coach of Australia said.

He also instructed the bowlers to get Kohli out of his comfort zone by bowling quick throat high bouncers early on. “I would like to see the Aussie quicks bowl bouncers throat-high to get him on the back foot, make him thinking about it. The follow-up ball remains the key. Make him come forward inviting the drive. If there is movement off the wicket or in the air, then the edge comes into play. Maybe they can bowl on the stumps with two catchers on the on-side. It’s about getting him out of his comfort zone,” Gillespie continued.

The 42-year-old also backed the decision by the Indian selectors to rest Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. “I think the Indian selectors are trying to manage the workload. They have played an incredible amount of cricket. Sometimes you need to put those needs first,” he concluded.

The much-awaited series between India and Australia commences on September 17 in Chennai where the first ODI will be played. Australia has already won the warm-up game by 103 runs on Monday.