‘They’ll Be Hungry’: Ravi Shastri Backs Virat Kohli, Steve Smith Ahead Of Boxing Day Test
Former India coach Ravi Shastri feels that veteran players Virat Kohli and Steve Smith are behind Joe Root and Kane Williamson in the Fab Four rankings and as a result, they will be looking to come back stronger in the upcoming two Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The likes of Kohli and Smith have smashed a hundred each but after that, they looked in trouble in the middle.
“I think they (Kohli and Smith) will have slipped down the ranks on the current form because you know you’ve got the likes of Root taking off, there’s Williamson doing well, Harry Brook has come onto the scene, you know there are a lot of other young players pushing but these are class players. In a situation like this, you know they’ll be dangerous because they’ll be hungry,” Shastri said.
“What’s needed you saw from Smith. It might have been a struggle early on but he was prepared to play the waiting game and be disciplined,” Shastri added.
“If Virat gets over that first 30, 40 minutes, with serious application and discipline, I don’t think he’s (out of form), none of these guys are out of form.”
Virat Kohli batted well in the second innings of the first Test that was held in Perth against Australia as he made a century. But then after that, he failed to make an impact with the bat.
Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (C), Alex Carey (WK), Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Josh Inglis, Scott Boland.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah(vc), Mohammed Siraj, Sarfaraz Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Washington Sundar, Abhimanyu Easwaran.
Stay informed on all the , real-time updates, and follow all the important headlines in and on Zee News.