Published 17:25 IST, November 18th 2020
Virat Kohli expresses love for Test match practice sessions, fans left awestruck: Watch
With the India vs Australia 2020 series around the corner, India's skipper Virat Kohli has started training for his first - and only - Test match of the series.
With the India vs Australia 2020 series around the corner, the Men in Blue have started training for what promises to be a high octane clash. This will be the team's first international tour since March when they played against New Zealand. After much negotiation, it seems that the team has been allowed to practice during their week in quarantine. Excited to be playing red-ball cricket against Australia, Indian skipper Virat Kohli took to Twitter and shared a video of himself practising in the nets.
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Virat Kohli enjoys net session down under
In anticipation of the India vs Australia 2020 series, Virat Kohli posted a video of himself taking on veteran pacer Mohammed Shami, Bangalore teammate Mohammed Siraj and spin king Ravichandran Ashwin. Kohli was joined by newly elected vice-captain KL Rahul and Sanju Samson. India’s tour of Australia will begin on November 27.
The series will consist of 3 ODIs and T20Is followed by four Test matches. The Tests are scheduled to begin from December 17 in Adelaide and will be a part of the World Test Championship where India are currently in top position followed by Australia.
Captain Kohli has been at the centre of some talk after announcing that he would miss out on three of the four Test matches in the series in order to be present for the birth of his first child with Actress Anushka Sharma. The skipper will miss out on the iconic Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and the New Year's Test which has been shifted from its traditional start of January 2 to January 7. He will also be missing out on the last Test in Brisbane.
India squad for Australia 2020
The BCCI has announced a stellar team for India's tour of Australia 2020-21. After some contention, a few names have been added to the list in an amendment. Rohit Sharma, who was initially left out due to injury concerns has now been named in the Test squad as a replacement for Kohli. Sanju Samson has also received a callup to the ODI squad while the Hyderabad IPL team's standout bowler T Natarajan has been added to the T20I squad. Youngsters, Varun Chakravarthy and Kamlesh Nagarkoti have now been ruled out due to injury concerns, while Ishant Sharma and Wriddhiman Saha's additions are tentative based on their fitness.
Virat Kohli stats
Of his 86 matches, Kohli has made 7240 runs in his Test career so far. His best performance in the format so far has come against South Africa when he made 254*. Kohli also has an impressive average of 53.6 and a strike rate of 57.7 in Tests and has made an incredible 27 centuries and 22 half-centuries. His role in India's retention of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2018-19 - the first time an Indian team won a Test series in Australia - was huge.
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Image Credits: Virat Kohli Twitter
Updated 17:25 IST, November 18th 2020