Sledging Virat Kohli while he's batting is a no-go-zone for the bowlers: Josh Hazlewood

Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood revealed that his team would try to avoid any confrontation with Indian skipper Virat Kohli as sledging works as a fuel for him. It is generally believed that sledging Virat, while he is on the crease, is a bad decision as it brings out the best in him.

Indian team is expected to tour Australia for a four-match Test series and a three-match ODI and T20 series later this year. The three T20 matches would be held between October 11 and October 17 while the Test series is scheduled to begin from December 3 at Brisbane. The previous Border-Gavaskar Trophy held from December 2018 to January 2019 between Australia and India was historic in many ways. It was the first time since 71 years that the Indian team managed to win a Test series on Australian soil.

Speaking on Star Sports show Cricket Connected, Hazlewood said, “I think we try to probably stay clear of engagement, obviously. I think that was fully evident throughout the series. I think he likes to get in that tussle and it probably brings out the best in him, especially when he’s batting, that was always a no-go-zone for the bowlers.”

“I think it’s a different case if the guys are batting and he’s in the field, you know they can get him engaged there and sort of work him out a little bit if possible, but certainly when he was batting, it was just leaving him to his own devices, and hopefully, we get him in a bit of a switched off mood and take advantage of that.”, the pacer added.

I think Virat Kohli is quite similar to me: David Warner

This is not the first time an Australian cricketer has opposed the idea of getting in a tiff with the Indian skipper. A few days back, Australia’s opening batsman David Warner had stated that there is no point in poking Kohli as it helps him to come out harder with the bat and prove himself.

“I thrive on the crowd, I thrive on people sort of going at me in the field. And getting into that battle. I think Virat is quite similar, if you go a little bit at Virat he comes out harder with the bat and he plays amazing. We have seen that time and time again. There is no point in actually trying to poke the bear because at the end of the day if you do that it just fires up the person a bit more.”, Warner told India Today.