New Delhi

Australia batter Steve Smith says that India's Virat Kohli is 'the most Australian' player among the Indians. The comments come ahead of the upcoming five-Test Border-Gavaskar series in November later this year. India will travel to Australia with an aim to win their third consecutive Test series.

Advertisment

"I believe Virat Kohli is Australian in thoughts and action. The way he gets into a battle, the way he gets into the challenge and tries to get on top of the opposition. He's probably the most Australian of the Indian players, I'd say," Smith said in a video shared by Star Sports on social media platform X.

Also Read: 'He needs to get better...,' former India skipper Sourav Ganguly on Rishabh Pant's Test comeback

The Aussie batter, one of the Fab Four, also spoke on his rivalry with the Indian batter and said: "There's no real, you know, I need to beat him or anything like that. It's just about going out and playing and trying to score as many runs as I can and helping Australia have success and that's what it's all about."

Advertisment

"We get on quite well, share messages every now and then and look, he's a great guy and obviously a wonderful player. It's going to be nice to come up against him again this summer," Smith added.

India have three Test series planned from September 19 - two at home and one away. They first play Bangladesh for two-Test series from September 19 before hosting New Zealand for a three-Test series and then travel to Australia.

Aussie Test opener Usman Khawaja also believes that it is a 'sign of respect' that Indians want to beat Australia in any form of cricket.

Advertisment

The Aussie opener also cited the rise of Indian Premier League (IPL) and India beating Australia in last two Test series Down Under.

"For Indians, it's always been the case to beat Australia. And more recently, you know, since the rise of India and IPL and everything else that happened, it's the same way with Australia against India," Khawaja said.