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As Team India aims to take a series lead during the fourth Test against Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), all eyes will be on star batter Virat Kohli, the Indian titan who has been struggling with inconsistent batting form and a tendency to poke the outside off-stump deliveries, which have become a big cause of his recent dismissals.
The fourth Test will take place at Melbourne from December 26 onwards and it would be a Boxing Day affair. Except for an unbeaten 100 in the first Test at Perth, the Aussies have managed to keep Virat quiet as he has managed just 26 runs in his other four innings, including three single-digit scores. At MCG in Tests, however, Virat has a fabulous record scoring 316 runs in three Tests at an average of 52.66, with a century and two fifties to his name in six innings. His best score is 169, which came in 2014. Overall, Virat's Boxing Day Test record, including in the matches against South Africa, is solid. In six Tests and 12 innings, he has made 540 runs at an average of 45.00, with a century and three fifties to his name. His best score is 169. A big score could see him displacing Sachin Tendulkar (449 runs in five matches with a century and three fifties), to become India's leading run-getter at MCG in Tests. Currently, he is the third-highest run-getter, with Ajinkya Rahane (369 runs in three matches with two centuries) being second. Virat needs just 134 runs to reach the top spot. Across all international formats at MCG, Virat has made 766 runs in 14 matches at an average of 54.71, with two centuries and four fifties in 16 innings. His best score is 169. This also includes a master-class knock of 82* against Pakistan during a run-chase of 160 in ICC T20 World Cup 2022, often hailed as his best T20I knock. Fans would no doubt be wanting a big score from the 36-year-old legend, as across all formats this year, Virat has scored just 614 runs at an average of 21.92, with just one century and two fifties to his name and best score of 100*. In nine Tests this year, he has scored 376 runs at an average of 25.06, with just a century and fifty to his name in 17 innings. His best score is 100*. The decade of 2020s has not been kind to Virat the Test batter. In 37 Tests and 64 innings, he has managed just 1,964 runs at an average of 31.67, with just three centuries and nine fifties and best score of 186. In the ongoing ICC World Test Championship final, Virat has scored 687 runs at an average of 36.15 in 12 matches and 21 innings, with two centuries and three fifties and the best score of 121. Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal. (ANI)
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