Virat Kohli calls Australia crowd 'tough' ahead of India's opening ODI in Sydney

Virat Kohli has said that the Australian crowd can be very tough ahead of the first One Day International between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday. The Aussie crowd has tried to get under the Indian captain's skin plenty of times in the past but he succeeded in giving them a befitting reply by making his bat do the talking.

'The crowd can be very tough': Virat Kohli

During a virtual media interaction ahead of the opening ODI, Kohli was asked about the hostile reception that he might receive from the home crowd to which he replied by saying that the crowd Down Under can be very tough.

"It's (Australia) a place I have loved coming to over the years. One thing about Australia is that they play hard cricket and in every sport, they are very tough. The crowd can be very tough on the players traveling", said Kohli in the video that was posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on their official Twitter handle.

Nonetheless, the batting megastar also went on to say that if a player performs well over there, then he will be respected by the local crowd and public.

"But, if you perform well in Australia, you gain a lot of respect from the local public and from the fans watching as well which as a sportsman I think that I certainly am a big fan of because it's like a test, it's like you kind of going through a hard test and then there's appreciation and there's acknowledgement at the end of it", the Indian captain added.

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Can India rediscover their rhythm in the 50-overs format?

Team India will be seen in action for the first time in almost nine months when they lock horns with the five-time world champions at the Sydney Cricket Ground this Friday. The Men In Blue had suffered a 3-0 whitewash in New Zealand earlier this year and they would be hoping to rediscover their rhythm in the 50-overs format by getting the better of the Aaron Finch-led side in their own backyard.

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