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In the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has pushed Virat Kohli to overcome his off-stump line troubles and smash as many as four hundred. Gavaskar pointed out that there is extra motivation for Kohli to get three runs in the series' third Test, which kicks off on Saturday, December 14 at the Gabba in Brisbane.
The Indian batting maestro had a great start to this Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he scored a century in the second innings of the series opener in Perth. He eclipsed Sachin Tendulkar on the list of visiting batters with the most hundreds in Australia, and it was his seventh Test century in the land down under.
Sunil Gavaskar on Virat Kohli
Sunil Gavaskar told the broadcasters that Kohli has the opportunity to become one of only a select few visiting batters to achieve a century at each of Australia's five main Test grounds, along with him and former England captain Alastair Cook. In Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne, Kohli has already scored hundreds of runs.
"If he scores a century in Brisbane, it will be great. It's an incentive as well as you know that you join a club if you score a century in Brisbane, the one to score a century everywhere in Australia," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
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The former India skipper cautioned Australia of a possible run-scoring rampage from the Indian star in the remaining games of the series and emphasized that a century in Brisbane might greatly improve Kohli's confidence.
"After that, going forward he will play in Melbourne and Sydney, where he has scored centuries. So he can score centuries there as well. It means he can score four centuries in the series," Gavaskar added.
Gavaskar on Kohli's struggle
After being dismissed in both innings of the second Test in Adelaide, where India lost by 10 wickets last Sunday, questions were raised regarding Kohli's struggle against deliveries outside the off-stump. Kohli struggled against the pink ball and seemed unconfident, even though he had scored a century in the previous Test. However, Gavaskar expressing confidence in Kohli said that no batter can reliably score in every Test of a series.
"Even Bradman never had a series where he scored in every Test match. You are bound to fail in an odd Test. I hope his failure in Adelaide will be offset by strong performances in the remaining three Tests," Gavaskar said.
In response to Kohli's struggles with the off-stump line, Gavaskar said that batters frequently struggle with it, especially when facing Australia's methodical bowling.
"With the slight issue he’s having outside the off-stump — which every batter experiences at some point — if he plays cautiously to those deliveries, the runs will come," Gavaskar added.
During India's training session at the Gabba on Thursday, December 12, Virat Kohli seemed upbeat. Before making his way to the nets, the former captain gave the players a motivational speech. Kohli left with confidence and showed off his flawless footwork while being calm in the face of deliveries outside the off-stump.
