Sydney: Australia fast bowler Pat Cummins on Tuesday made a ‘bold’ claim that Indian skipper Virat Kohli will not be able to score a century when India visit the country later this year. India are set to play a four-Test series Down Under from November, and Cummins, who hopes to be a part of the Australia squad, said that Australia will win the series. Speaking to reporters at a Channel 7 event in Sydney, the 25-year old said, “My brave, bold prediction; I’d say I think Virat Kohli is not going to get a hundred and we’re going to knock them off over here,” he said.
Kohli enjoys a terrific record in Australia, with five Test centuries under his name. The 29-year old averages 62 in the eight Tests he has played in the country, which is more than his career average of 53.40.
Former Australia seamer Glenn McGrath further went on to predict that Australia will win the series 4-0. “I want to see Australians put pressure on Kohli and just see how he handles it. It’s going to be a good, hard, tough series. Kohli has got a bit of an aggressive attitude, but showed last time he was out here he’s not going to take a backward step,” he said.
He further added that Australia will look to target Kohli. “The Windies of the late 70s, early 80s were an incredible team and they used to target the captain of the opposition team and get on top of him and have a big impact. I tried to bring that in by targeting players when I played.
“If you get on top of them, the No.1 player and their captain, it makes the job so much easier. If they can get on top of Kohli I think it can have a big effect on the game,” he said.
India will be touring Australia for the 12th time this summer. They are yet to win a Test series in 11 attempts, having drawn in 1981, 1985 and 2003. India have won just five out of the 44 Tests.
