‘We don’t talk about taunting Virat Kohli, that’s rubbish’: Australia head coach Justin Langer

Virat Kohli might be available for only the first Test in the four-match India vs Australia series but that hasn’t taken the focus off him. Kohli’s aggression, his way of not shying away from an on-field banter, make him the centrepoint of any India-Australia series. In former Australia captain Greg Chappell’s words Indian captain Kohli is ‘most Australian non-Australian cricketer’ in the world.

Australia head coach Justin Langer on Tuesday, however said, that his side just plans on how to dismiss Virat Kohli rather than focusing on how to taunt the Indian skipper.

“What we talk about is how to get Virat out. He is such a great player, we don’t talk about whether we taunt him or not. That’s rubbish. We play on the skill, not on emotions, at least we try to. We have to control our emotions but he is a great player and an equally great leader,” said Langer during a virtual press conference on Tuesday. “I have got so much respect for Kohli but we are going to be really well planned for him because we know how important he is for India as a leader and as a batsman. So, we will have our plans in place.”

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The former Australia opener agreed that the tricky part is to execute the plans against a batsman of Kohli’s stature.

“The next trick is to execute them, hopefully, keep him out of the game with his runs. At the end of the day, that’s where he is going to have the biggest impact. We’ve seen a lot of him now, and he has seen a lot of us too. It will be an amazing contest.”

Langer said the contest between Australia seamers and Kohli would be a great one to watch as well as the one between Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Australia batsmen. “It is almost mouthwatering for cricket lovers to see Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, or Nathan Lyon bowling to Virat Kohli. Just like Bumrah and Shami bowling to our batters. It’s going to be a great contest come Thursday,” he added.

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Kohli will be available only for the historic day-night Test in Adelaide starting from December 17 after which he will fly back home for the birth of his first child.

When asked to give his take on the battle of spinners between Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon, Langer replied: “They are both world-class offspinners. Lyon is incredibly important to our team, I can’t talk for India, but Lyon is coming up to his 100th Test match. We know the kind of impact he has had on the current Indian team. I think he has dismissed them more than any other player from our team. So, we are very fortunate to have him as part of our XI.”

Lyon currently has 390 wickets in the longest format of the game, and the spinner would look to become only the sixth spinner in world cricket to go past the 400 wickets mark. On the other hand, Ashwin has 365 wickets to his name in the longest format.

“It will be up to our batters to have plans against each of their bowlers. Ashwin is no different. He is a gun. But be assured our guys have hopefully learnt from two years ago. We talk about constantly improving and learning. They’ll have their plans in place. Whether you are a left or a right harder, everyone will play it differently. We are lucky to have an experienced batting line up now. By the time they walk out to the middle, as a coach, I’ll be very hopeful they will have plans in place,” said Langer.

(With ANI inputs)