
Former Indian opener-turned-commentator Sunil Gavaskar has backed Virat Kohli to overcome his issues outside the off-stump and score big in the third Test between India and Australia in Brisbane, starting on Dec 14. Kohli started the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) edition with an unbeaten 100 in the second innings of the first Test in Perth. He, however, flopped in the second Test in Adelaide. Kohli has scored a ton at each of Australia's five major Test venues except Brisbane, hence, Gavaskar has backed the star batter to achieve the feat in the third Test.
Talking on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, "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. 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."
The Perth Test ton was Kohli's seventh in Australia—most by any visiting batter Down Under (surpassing Sachin Tendulkar). If he scores a hundred in Brisbane, he will join Gavaskar and Alastair Cookin an elite club of visiting batters to have scored a century at each of Australia's five major Test venues.
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Gavaskar further emphasised that a hundred in Brisbane could significantly boost Kohli's confidence, and he could go on a run-scoring spree in the remainder of the ongoing BGT edition.
The former Indian captain added, "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. 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."
Rohit Sharma-led India will face Australia in the third Test at The Gabba, Brisbane, starting on Dec 14 (Saturday). The five-match series is currently tied at 1-1.