McGrath urges Australia to ‘go hard’ on emotional Kohli

Pace legend Glenn McGrath feels Australia have the “ammunition” to target an “emotional” Virat Kohli, who will be under pressure if he gets off to a poor start at the five-match Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting in Perth from November 22.

India have won the last four Test series against Australia, including two Down Under. However, they head into the much-anticipated five-Test assignment on the back of a 0-3 series whitewash at the hands of New Zealand at home.

“Without a doubt, especially after coming off a 3-0 loss against New Zealand, you’ve got plenty of ammunition to back yourself up,” Fox Cricket quoted McGrath as saying on ‘CODE Sports’.

“So put the pressure on them and see if they’re up for it,” he added.

Kohli, who has been India’s batting mainstay for over a decade, has struggled with form in Test cricket recently. In the six matches he’s played this year, he has averaged just a mere 22.72.

With the injured Shubman Gill out of contention from the first Test and skipper Rohit Sharma’s participation also in doubt, Kohli will feel the pressure of leading the batting line up.

However, the 36-year-old has a penchant of eking out his best in Australia. Kohli has an impressive average of 54.08 in the four Australia tours he has been a part of.

And McGrath warned that targeting Kohli aggressively could also lift him, especially if he manages to keep his emotions in check.

“If they go hard at him, if he gets in the fight with emotions, there’s a bit of chat out there, who knows he might sort of lift,” said the 54-year-old former Australia pacer who took 563 Test wickets from 124 matches between 1993 and 2007.

“But I think he’s probably under pressure a little bit, and if he has a couple of low scores to start with, he could really feel it.

“I think he’s quite an emotional player. When he’s up, he’s up, and when he’s down, he sort of struggles a little bit,” McGrath added.