“This is his best chance”: Indian great Kohli fancied to return to career-best form against Australia

Former Wisden Indian cricket editor Dileep Premachandran trusts Indian star Virat Kohli to re-emerge as a force against Australia in then Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

Kohli struggled in India against a dominant New Zealand in the recent three-Test series defeat, with the former skipper making a sole score above 50 - on a flat pitch in Bengaluru.

But Premachandran is resolute that conditions in Perth for the first Test will favour the veteran and ensure he can play to his strengths throughout the series.

“If Virat Kohli is to go back to what we used to think of as his best there is no place he would rather be playing than Australia,” Premachandran told SEN WA's Sportsday.

“He already has six hundreds there, he loves the conditions and unlike a lot of Indian players in the past Kohli thrives on pitches that have a bit of pace and bounce it allows him to play those backfoot shots.

“He’s always enjoyed batting in Australia. I think he enjoys the fact that he’s away from the kind of bubble that he has to be in when he’s in India, so he’s a bit more relaxed.

“This is his best chance to play himself into form.”

Kohli has only made one Test hundred since 2019. The four-year drought was broken in the West Indies last year, but he has failed to add to the tally since.

Premachandran attributes the downturn to poor Indian pitches, but warns touring Australia has its own difficulties for overseas batsmen.

“Like we said earlier the pitches in India over the past 6-7 years have been quite ordinary in a lot of cases and it’s been very hard to make runs,” he said.

“I’m not saying that’s an excuse for the downturn in his numbers, but I think he will enjoy the conditions in Australia a lot more than for example, than he did in the home series against New Zealand.

“Perth is probably the toughest test for most overseas batsman when they come to Australia. Then you’ve got the pink ball test which is never easy to bat under lights in Adelaide.

“If India can get out of those two matches without two defeats, then they have a really good chance.

“Lose those two and it could get quite ugly soon.”

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy begins on Friday from 1:20pm AEDT (10:20am local time) at Perth Stadium.