India vs Australia: Virat Kohli names the biggest threat for his team in the T20I series

India will start the T20I series against Australia as the firm favourites. While the hosts are definitely entering the series on the back of the 2-1 loss in T20Is against New Zealand, there is little denying that they are one of the most formidable teams in the world at the moment. Moreover, India are almost unstoppable in their own backyard. The Men in Blue will be backing themselves to end up on the winning side when they take on the visitors in the first T20I on Sunday.

While India will not have much to worry about from Australia, their skipper Virat Kohli thinks if there is one player in the opposition camp who can cause all sorts of trouble for the hosts then he is Marcus Stoinis. Kohli singled out the Australian allrounder as India’s biggest threat in the upcoming series. Contrary to the popular speculations, Kohli also expects the three-match series at home to be a tough challenge.

In order to back his claim, Kohli pointed out the T20I series between the two teams last year which ended 1-1. In that series, Australia had won the first game by four runs, while India levelled the series in the final game, completing the chase with just two balls to spare. The second game had been abandoned due to poor weather.

“Few of the guys have done really well in the BBL,” Kohli told reporters. “The last time we played, the games were close contests… both of them.” He then shifted his focus to Stoinis who will ply his trade under Kohli’s captaincy in this year’s IPL.

“We obviously expect a stiff competition overall from the Australian team but if I had to single out one player that can make more impact that would be Marcus Stoinis. He’s come around really well during the BBL and he’s making standout performances on a consistent basis. You can see he’s grown in confidence and he’s definitely going to be a very important player for them,” Virat Kohli further added.

Stoinis’ fine show in recent times

In an otherwise dismal few months for Australia, Stoinis has been a breath of fresh air. He has delivered with both bat and ball to emerge as one of Australia’s most dependable players. He finished 2018 as their third-top run-scorer with 376 runs, scoring four fifties with a top score of 87. He was also Australia’s leading ODI wicket-taker, picking up 13 wickets. Recently, he bagged the Australian ODI player of the year award.

Stoinis also played a crucial role in Melbourne Stars’ march to the final of this year’s Big Bash League. The allrounder scored 533 runs at 53.30 from 13 innings for Melbourne Stars, and also picked up 14 wickets at 16.14.

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