Virat Kohli is back in Australia and has been painted all over the first page of the country's newspapers. It might be Kohli's final conquest Down Under and having been successful most of the time, how he performs in the upcoming five-match Test series in Australia, might have a last impact on his legacy and fan's memories of him, especially since he hasn't been at his best in Test cricket of late.
Obviously, the trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will be a massive threat but Nathan Lyon can't be ignored. Kohli has had famous battles with Lyon over the years, both at home and in Australia. Even though Kohli has dominated the match-up, having scored 529 runs in 32 innings averaging 75.6, the off-spinner has dismissed him seven times, most decisively in the 2014 Adelaide Test when the former Indian skipper almost felt invincible with the bat in hand.
In a recent video shared by cricket.com.au on their social media channels, Lyon recalled an interesting anecdote where he mentioned that Kohli teased him with a strange sledge saying, "Federer."
"The one battle that comes out to me is the 2014 Test at Adelaide Oval where he (Kohli) got hundreds in both innings. I was bowling to him and he was batting that easily. He'd come down to the non-striker's end and just say 'Federer,'" Lyon said. "And I was like 'Oh, okay, what's this?' He kept doing it, kept doing it every time.
"Every time he'd come down there, he was like 'Federer, Federer'. And I said 'Mate, I don't know if I'm wrong, but are we playing the wrong sport if you think you're Roger Federer.' And he goes 'Nah, nah, I've got a beautiful forehand'. I'm just like 'Ah, okay.' You're a decent player when you can just sit there and do that mid-innings," Lyon added.
Watch the video here:
Kohli is coming off a quiet series against New Zealand where he scored just 93 runs in six innings, including a 70 in just one. With the sword hanging over India's chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship final, Kohli will be out to prove a point. And Kohli with a purpose and desire to prove his critics wrong is dangerous, Australia are aware of that.
