He loves to have that banter against the Australian players and he raises his game: Sanjay Bangar on Virat Kohli

When India meet Australia in the longest format of the game, it is always an exciting exchange between two world powers. Irrespective of the game’s stature, the two sides comprise all the ingredients in order to spice up the contest. One of them is the war of words where both contingents make no attempt in holding back and ensure that they are charging forth with the sharpest of weapons in their ranks.

You cannot talk psychological battle of words and not mention Virat Kohli. The former Indian captain will be hellbent to return to his scoring ways in the longest format against one of his favourite counterparts, Australia. Knowing Virat, he has always been a man who loves challenges and when it is Australia, there is a different sense of grit surging through his veins.

RCB Head coach, Sanjay Bangar believes that the fact of competition in its crudest sense is exactly what will be driving Virat Kohli to perform under pressure. Talking to Star Sports, he said, “He loves to play against Australia. He loves to have that banter against the Australian players and he raises his game, and Test cricket is a format which brings the best out of Virat Kohli as well. Yes, the last two-and-a-half years haven't been as productive by his standards. So he would want to continue the freshness of approach that he has enjoyed in the T20 and ODI formats and now he would look to transform that into Test cricket as well. So he is going to make a big bang and create an impact in this series as well.”

After returning to centuries in both T20Is and ODIs, Bangar was asked whether Kohli can get back to the magic figure in the longest format too and the former Indian opener said, “All the indications are in that direction because he has already made great strides in overcoming the lean patch, whatever lean patch you may have to call because of the level of cricket that he has played. We are very optimistic that he will be able to overcome whatever challenges that he has had to encounter in the Test format.”