Ahead of the upcoming four-match Test series between Australia and India, former Aussie batsman Dean Jones has advised Tim Paine & Co not to provoke the visiting captain Virat Kohli.
Jones is the second high-profile personality, after South Africa captain Faf du Plessis, to have openly warned the Aussies not to engage in verbal duels with Kohli.
With Steve Smith and David Warner serving their respective bans in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, Australia start as the underdogs. Also with the hosts facing criticisms for toning down the quintessential "Australian aggression", how well a young team under Paine handles someone like Kohli would become a part of the larger narrative during the series.
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Kohli was the second highest run scorer, behind Smith, when the two teams met Down Under in 2014/15 with four centuries. Since assuming the captaincy role, the 30-year-old has been scoring runs for pleasure.
Known for his aggression, Kohli thrives on challenges. And matches in Australia, thanks to a combination of various factors, have witnessed some of the most heated encounters.
And Jones has one advise: "Do not talk or provoke him. Make him your best mate."
On how to contain Kohli the batsman, Jones added: "Trying to find a weakness in Kohli's game is like trying to find something wrong with the Mona Lisa. Teams must stop his cover drive and bowl in different areas.
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"At the start of Kohli's innings, quicks need to bowl at a fourth-stump line and make him play on the back foot. Do not give him width and length outside off-stump.
"Bowlers must try to set him up with short stuff first and then the odd wide ball on the drive to find the edge. Slips and gully stay on high alert," he was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald.
Earlier this month, Proteas captain Du Plessis said that his team gave Kohli the "silent treatment" in an attempt to keep him quiet when the two teams squared off.
"There are guys like that in international cricket (who enjoy the confrontation). We feel like that when we play against someone like Virat Kohli, he wants to get into the fight," he had said.
South Africa beat India 2-1 in the series but Kohli emerged as the top run-getter with an aggregate of 286 from three Tests at an average of 47.66.
"There's one or two guys in each team around the world that we as a team discuss before playing against them. We're like, 'better not say too much to him because you'll get him going'."
Kohli has been in imperious form throughout the year. The World No 1 Test batsman notched up 593 runs against England in the five-match series and followed that up with three back-to-back hundreds against the West Indies in the One-day International series.
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In 15 Test matches against the Aussies, Kohli has scored 1322 runs at an average of 50.84 with six centuries and three fifties.
First Test in Adelaide starts on December 6.
