Australia must put Virat Kohli under pressure early in the series: Brett Lee

Former Australia speedster Brett Lee believes the Aussies will definitely be gunning for revenge when India travel Down Under for a mouth-watering Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year. The four Tests of the series are currently scheduled to be played at Gabba, Adelaide Oval, MCG and the SCG respectively starting December 3.

The last time Virat Kohli and Co travelled to Australia, they got the better of the hosts 2-1 and became the first Indian team to win a Test series there. With batting heavyweights Steve Smith and David Warner back in the side this time, Lee feels Australia will be too hot to handle on home soil.

“To me, it’s one of the best series that you can look forward to. Australian will definitely want revenge but I know that India will come out and play their style of cricket which could definitely put Australia on the ropes. I personally think Australia will be too strong on home soil,” Lee told IANS.

Lee also had a word of advice to stop the juggernaut that is called Virat Kohli. The India skipper will once again be expected to have a huge say in the outcome of the series and according to Lee, if the Aussie bowlers are able to keep him under check from the word go, that could end up in rattling the superstar batsman.

Kohli finished as the third highest run-getter on the 2018-19 tour but will be definitely eying the top spot this time, especially when his head-to-head battle will be against age-old rival Steve Smith, which wasn’t the case last time around.

“He is obviously a world-class player and Australia will have to make sure they’ve got clear concise plans to bowl to him. I think if they can put him under pressure early in the series that will allow maybe Australia to go on top of him,” Lee opined.

The big reason for India’s success on their last tour was the consistency shown by the bowlers. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah ended the series with 21 wickets, Mohammed Shami scalped 16 wickets while Ishant Sharma also did well with 11 scalps. Lee feels that Indian pacers these days don’t back down and are always up for the contest, regardless of the opposition or the conditions.

“I think with their height and agility they are able to bowl in all conditions, but it looked as though they are really up for the contest,” Lee said.

Bumrah has been an integral part of the Indian pace battery across formats for a while now. But the one concern that is usually raised with respect to him is his short bowling run-up. Former greats have time and again expressed concerns and stated it is difficult for Bumrah to remain injury-free with the super-fast pace that he generates with that small run-up.

“I think it’s a matter of him keeping strong and doing what works for him. Obviously, with a short run-up, it does put a lot of pressure on your body but at the moment it looks as though it’s working for him,” the former speedster said.

Lee, recently, announced his tie-up with SportsAdda — the one-stop-shop for everything cricket, football, and kabaddi. Commenting on the same, he said: “India is a vast nation with a great appetite for sports content, particularly cricket, football, and kabaddi. However, finding the right way to satiate that hunger is what I feel separates SportsAdda from the rest of the pack. They really seem to know how to best connect with the sports fan in pioneering ways with a voice that is not only informative and opinionated but witty and funny too.”

“In Brett, we not only have an athlete who has plied his trade at the highest level, but also one of the most passionate, smart and revered names in cricket,” Ashish Rana, spokesperson SportsAdda, said. “His commitment to excellence on the field is on par with ours in the digital world and together, we have some exciting stuff lined up for our fans that we cannot wait to reveal.”