Australia v India: Pat Cummins on how to get Virat Kohli out

Pat Cummins says Virat Kohli uses opposition words as fuel for his combative fire. Should the Aussies adopt a no-sledge policy?

Pat Cummins says there’s no cheat code to getting Virat Kohli out. Picture: AAP

How do you get Virat Kohli out? It’s a question that gets asked a lot in the media whenever we face India.

It would be great if there was a cheat code you could punch in to knock him over, but that’s simply not the case — great players are great players for a reason.

There’s endless data and analytics that you look at to try to find that small little weakness in a player’s game.

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Virat Kohli looms again as the thorn in Australia’s side — at least in Adelaide. Picture: AAP

But teams and players can get into trouble when they get caught up in these weird plans.

Because the reality is that really good players who have been playing for a long time in international cricket don’t have too many weaknesses.

There’s no one thing you can try to tap into and suddenly that’s a cheat code to get them out.

I see it all the time when the opposition tries to work out Steve Smith. Every team tries all these different wacky plans and they can sometimes forget what makes a bowler a really good bowler.

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That will be my plan — to try to remember when I am bowling my best and to ensure I’m doing that ball after ball, as opposed to getting caught up in these grand plans that maybe don’t suit me.

I like to go back to what I do well and make sure that’s my main focus. And, if it fits into a small plan you might have against a certain batter and it matches up well, then of course you will try that.
But there’s no big secret plan that works.

Another thing that’s pretty consistent with all really good players is how they can manufacture ways to get into the contest — because they know that’s when they perform at their best.

With Steve Smith, it’s not even necessarily that someone has to speak to him — he’ll find a way to get himself in that fight, in that challenge.

Pat Cummins just raises his eyebrows at the wacky plans some opposition teams employ against Aussie batting guru Steve Smith. Picture: AFP

They know the ways to try to get themselves up and in that frame of mind. I’m sure this series will be fiery, like it normally is.

Virat will be trying to pick fights with whoever will listen. So will we implement a no-sledging policy against Virat again?

It’s not been discussed, but it might be something we speak about closer to the matches.

Either way, it will be a great summer because whenever you bowl to the best players in each team it’s a challenge and that’s what you want to judge yourself against.

Cummins’ pace and skill is Australia’s deadliest weapon. Picture: Michael Klein

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That’s why you want to play international cricket, to play the best players in the world.

For a lot of the teams around the world, the best batter tends to be the captain at times and that tends to then make them the biggest wicket — you feel like if you can get them out cheaply, it goes a long way to opening up the middle order.

But I’ll probably try to go the other way. The better the batter, I want to concentrate even harder on what I do well and just try to stay in my own little bubble a bit more than be drawn into the player down the other end.

They are only human, after all.

So when you’re running in to bowl to Virat, you have to be up to the challenge. Because he will be.