I would not try and fire up Virat Kohli; he thrives on that: Mike Hussey

Mike Hussey, who has been a veteran of Indian tours during his day has warned the Australian players about sledging Indian skipper Virat Kohli. While the ploy might have worked down-under, it seems quite clear that the Aussies would be on the receiving end of the cane this time around given the fact that Kohli is playing in conditions he is indeed familiar in.

While many would state that firing up has indeed worked, Kohli, now a mature batsman has become one of those players who certainly thrives in those situations when a bowler is in his face. Husset added that Kohli was the sort of batsman who loved these sort of challenges and that verbal barrage was something that he certainly relished.

“I wouldn’t try and fire him up,” Hussey told cricket.com.au recently. I think he thrives on that and he’s a real competitor. He loves being in the fight and loves the contest out in the middle. I’d make sure we have some very clear plans and we try and stick to them as best as we possibly can. There’s no need to get involved in that sort of verbal barrage because I think that fires him up even more.”

“You don’t want to get carried away with too much talk and lose your concentration of what’s important, which is executing your skills. The team that wins will be the one that can execute their skills at the highest quality and for the longest period of time. It’s not going to be the team that’s the most verbal or the most aggressive.”

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Mike Hussey went on to conclude that Kohli was indeed public enemy number one as far as the Australia bowlers would be concerned. He also made a comparison between Kohli and Steve Smith for the same.

“From an Australian point of view, Kohli is public enemy No.1 and we have to get him out cheaply,” Hussey said. “If he gets in, he’ll go big and score big runs. He’s very confident at the moment, he knows the conditions so well and generally if he plays well, India win. And it’s similar with Australia – Steve Smith and David Warner are the two most important batsmen in the Australian line-up and if they score runs, generally Australia go well.