'I will shoulder charge him once he gets...': Virat Kohli reveals aggressive strategy as India star issues warning to opponents

Australia all-rounder Mitchell Marsh playfully teased India star Virat Kohli ahead of the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, jokingly saying that he would shoulder charge him once he crosses the 30-run mark. However, Marsh's comments were made in good fun and he also praised the former India captain highly.

Kohli will be the cynosure when the Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins on November 22 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. The 36-year-old heads into the contest on the back of a lean run, which includes the 93-run tally against New Zealand in a home Test series earlier this week. The poor run of form left critics questioning his future in the Indian squad.

“I think I’m going to shoulder charge him when he gets to 30, just take him out,” Marsh was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.

Contrary to Marsh's tactic, Mitchell Starc, who has share the dressing room with Kohli for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL, admitted he won't sledge the India No. 4 and would rather let the ball do the talking for him.

“I got to play alongside Virat for a couple of years in the IPL, so I got to know him off the field a bit and I have always enjoyed the battles together. But I don’t think it’s like him or I have cracks back or forth. It’s more about the cricket and enjoying the contest. So he’s not someone I have riled up or tried to rile up. You just have to try and let the cricket do the talking,” Starc was quoted by Fox Sports.

Kohli has played 13 Test matches in Australia, scoring 1352 runs at 54.08 with six centuries and four fifties. His best-ever performance came in the 2014/15 tour, where he amassed 692 runs at 86.50, with four centuries and a fifty.

Kohli also has a decent record in Perth, which will host the 2024/25 series opener. In his only appearance at the Optus Stadium, in 2018, he scored a first-innings century. He also is the only India batter from the present Test squad to have appeared at the old Perth Stadium, the WACA, which has not hosted an international red-ball game since 2017. He scored 119 runs in two innings against Australia in his maiden tour to the country, in 2012.