‘Virat Kohli always pushes the boundaries’: Former Australia coach Darren Lehmann

After the IPL extravaganza, the focus has now firmly shifted to India’s tour of Australia which will be the Men in Blue’s first assignment since March this year.

India’s limited-overs and Test sides are already in Sydney training for the three-match ODIs, three T20Is and four-Test series down under.

The build-up to the series has already started to heat up with talks surrounding India skipper Virat Kohli.

Former Australia coach Darren Lehmann was the latest to voice his opinion on Kohli. The India skipper will play the six limited-overs matches but will fly back home after the first Test in Adelaide to be with his wife Anushka Sharma who will give birth to their first child.

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Lehmann feels Kohli will give his 100% to win the lone Test he is playing in.

“That’s just the way he plays; he plays full of energy and doesn’t want to lose,” Lehmann told Sydney Morning Herald according to news agency PTI.

Lehmann said Kohli has the hallmark of a great player as he always pushes the boundary.

“He always pushes the boundaries, but that’s what great players do. He wants to win every game. That was one of the more fiery ones [2017 series] going around in recent years,” Lehmann said.

Former Australia batsman Greg Chappell too hailed Kohli as one of the best players in the world.

“I think he’s certainly one of the best players and one of the most influential players in world cricket at the moment,” said Chappell.

“He has strong views, he’s quite happy to speak those views, he’s quite happy to put himself out there and back himself to back up his words,” Chappell said.

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy will begin with a day-night encounter at the Adelaide Oval on December 17, followed by Tests at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (December 26), the Sydney Cricket Ground (January 7) and the Gabba (January 15).