India vs Australia: Matthew Hayden feels Virat Kohli has the edge over Jhye Richardson in the upcoming series

Australia are set to begin their reciprocating tour of India from February 24 and will play two T20Is and five ODIs under Aaron Finch’s leadership. India will see the return of their regular skipper Virat Kohli who went on a break recently, skipping a couple of ODIs and three T20Is against New Zealand. The Men in Blue will be looking to repeat their performance Down Under where they won the Test and ODI series by identical margins: 2-1.

All eyes will be particularly on Kohli, the dashing batsman who did not really dominate the last few series he played the ways he otherwise does. Kohli hit only one hundred each in the Test and ODI series against the Aussies and did not get a three-figure score in New Zealand. Just 10 centuries short of legend Sachin Tendulkar‘s 49 in ODIs, Kohli will look to make the most of the opportunity in the upcoming series.

Kohli got out to Richardson in all three ODIs in Australia

Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden is of the opinion that Virat Kohli’s current form will still be a challenge for the Australian attack, especially for youngster Jhye Richardson. The 22-year-old though had impressed against India in the ODI series in Australia in which he dismissed Kohli thrice in as many games. In India though, things would be different for the bowler who replaced an injured Josh Hazlewood.

“In the recent series (in Australia), Virat did have some trouble against Richardson, who played beautifully, taking Virat’s wicket thrice. But, I believe it will be a very different scenario this time around. Jhye is a young player, not with a lot of experience of playing cricket in India, so I believe Virat will be dominant in this one,” Hayden was quoted as saying by Times of India.

On a potential rivalry between Indian opener Rohit Sharma and left-arm Aussie pacer Jason Behrendorff who made his ODI debut in the India series, Hayden said the bowler “is tall, has good pace and bowls into the wicket” and will pose a challenge but also added that the Indian batsman is also in a great touch.

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