People would be silly to think we’ve only prepared for Virat Kohli, says Mitchell Marsh

Virat Kohli’s sheer invincibility and aggressive captaincy on the international cricket circuit in the last few years have made India’s tour of Australia, Kohli’s personal war with them. From Ricky Ponting to Michael Clarke, everyone has been heard giving advice to the current crop on how to stop Kohli from scoring another century in Australia.

And they are right to do so, for the Indian skipper has been in marvelous form. He has scored 879 runs in eight matches with three centuries and four fifties at an average of 54.93 in South Africa and England. In Australia, Kohli is already boasting a whopping average of 62 with five centuries in eight matches previously. 

However, Mitch Marsh has stated that the Australian bowlers have focused to put strategies in place not only for Kohli but also for all other batsman.

“We all know Virat’s a great player. We’ll have our plans for him and hopefully we can execute them. But if people think we’re not prepared for the other batsmen in the Indian team, who are all very good players, then they’d be pretty silly,” said Marsh, reported PTI. 

“There’s obviously been a lot of talk about that and it’s been a big build up to this Test match but there’s a great feeling around this group…now it’s about going out there and hopefully putting it together as a batting unit. But we all feel really good at the moment,” he added.

India have a heavier bowling lineup this time though with Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep Yadav looking to aid the venomous pace attack, despite the spinners’ failure to weave the magic down under. However, keeping in mind their recent form, where they have been pushing away batsmen like they nothing away from home across all formats, Marsh pointed out that the hosts are ready for them as well. 

“We know R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadejda and Kuldeep Yadav are all world-class spinners. History shows that Indian spinners haven’t had as much impact over here as they have in India. But they’re world-class bowlers and we’re very prepared for them. It will be a great contest,” he added.