Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, despite getting the better of Indian captain Virat Kohli in the first Test in Pune, was vary of the Test world No 2 bouncing back to run-scoring ways during the rest of the series, reported AFP.
Kohli had rare failure (0 and 13) during his side’s crushing 333-run loss in the first Test after reaching dizzying heights over the past eight months, during which he became the first batsman to score double hundreds in four consecutive series. Starc accounted for the wicket of Kohli in the first innings, where the latter was culpable of chasing after a wide delivery outside the off-stump.
Clearly, Starc made no bones about mentioning the 28-year-old as the prized scalp for the visitors. “We know [Kohli] is going to be another key wicket for the rest of the series,” he said. “There’s six more times we’ve got to get him out to really cement this series,” Starc said. He also expected Kohli to come back hard at the Aussies. “We know he’ll come back bigger and stronger, but he’s one I’ll take over [Cheteshwar] Pujara at the moment.”
Starc and Kohli were teammates for the Indian Premier League side Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The left-armer, who pulled out of this year’s edition, acknowledged Kohli’s recent feats. “He’s a class player, we all know that,” he said. “He’s scored a mountain of runs already this year. We’re going to have to be wary of that Virat comeback.”
The left-armer was also in no mood to get carried away by Australia’s success in the first Test. “We are really happy that it happened that way for us, but we know that one Test is not going to win us the series. It’s three important Test matches to go.”