Indian Cricket Team is set to tour Australia at the end of this year. The full-fledged tour comprises of 3 T20Is, 4 Tests and 3 ODIs. Virat Kohli and Co have fond memories of their last visit to down under and they must be high on confidence. On the other hand, Aussies will want to rectify their mistakes and put on a better show. Talking about the much-anticipated tour recently, Australia wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade said that he would refrain from sledging Kohli and the other Indian players and they can use it to their advantage. Well, that sort of statement from an Aussie player is not very common. However, Rahul Dravid shed lights on Wade’s remark and explained why Aussies would not be interested in having a verbal battle with the Indian captain.

“He sort of lives for it, he loves the fight, he loves the contest. He’s pretty competitive and aggressive as it is. You don’t want to get him more aggressive, I don’t know how more he can get,” Rahul Dravid said on ‘Sony Ten Pit stop’ show. India vs Australia 2020-21 Schedule, Free PDF Download.

The legendary Indian batsman also went on to say that all these things don’t matter a lot as at the end, cricket is a game of skills. “In the end, a lot of this stuff does not really affect players. In the end, it’s a contest. They know they have to be at top of their games. The skills have to be top class. They want to compete against someone like Virat, ” he added.

Hailing Australia’s potent pace attack, Dravid also said that Kohli has to be at his best in order to tackle the thunderbolts from Australian fast bowlers. “Virat also knows he has to be at top of the game if he wants to perform against the likes of Cummins, Starc, Pattinson, Hazlewood - that’s a pretty good attack. He knows that as well,” the veteran of 164 Tests added.

Speaking of Wade’s approach, Dravid said: “I think Wade is trying to say that they are going to focus on that skill - and if they get that right, then they can cause him a problem. If they get it slightly wrong, then we know what Virat could do.”

Last time when India toured Australia in 2018-19, they became the first Asian team to win a Test series against Australia at their own backyard, clinching the series 2-1. Apart from that, they also won the ODI series by the same margin while the T20I series was tied at 1-1. This time, however, Australia will have the services of David Warner and Steve Smith who were serving a one-year ban during India’s last tour.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 12, 2020 08:43 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).