Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc feels that Indian captain Virat Kohli will come back stronger after his rare failure in the first Test in Pune.
Kohli, who has been in supreme form over the last year, was dismissed for just 0 and 13 as India suffered a 333-run loss.
The first innings saw the Delhi batsman get out for his first duck in international cricket since 2014. Starc was the bowler who induced him into playing a wide delivery which Kohli could only edge to slip.
“We know he is going to be another key wicket for the rest of the series. There’s six more times we’ve got to get him out to really cement this series,” said Starc.
“We know he’ll come back bigger and stronger, but he’s one I’ll take over [Cheteshwar] Pujara at the moment.”
The left-arm quick feels that Kohli is a class player and the Australians will be wary of the Indian skipper settling scores with the bat in the remaining matches.
“He’s a class player, we all know that. He’s scored a mountain of runs already this year. We’re going to have to be wary of that Virat comeback,” added Starc.
“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.”
Starc knows Kohli well, having been teammates at the Royal Challengers Bangalore [RCB] in the Indian Premier League [IPL]. Incidentally, the second Test will take place at RCB’s home ground – M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru – starting on March 4.
Raw emotion! Mitchell Starc shows what getting Virat Kohli out for a duck feels like! #ShotOfTheDay #IndvAus pic.twitter.com/fmMXrsmtAT
— ICC (@ICC) February 24, 2017
