Virat Kohli defies coaches’ orders after Mitchell Starc inclusion
Virat Kohli ordered his troops to not one but two impromptu practice sessions in Sydney on Saturday after Australia called in their biggest T20 weapon for the series finale.
Virat Kohli ordered his troops to an impromptu practice session in Sydney after Australia called in destroyer Mitchell Starc for the Twenty20 series finale at the SCG.
Australia did not train after flying up from Melbourne, but it’s understood the Indian captain overruled the plans of his own coaching staff and demand a hit-out upon touching down in Sydney.
Kohli led a session on Saturday morning at the SCG as soon as hopping off the plane and was planning another for 5pm - before that was cancelled - in the latest reminder of why he’s the most powerful and determined leader in world cricket.
India were robbed of a bat after rain washed out the second T20 at the MCG, meaning they must win in front of a sold-out throng of sub-continental supporters tonight to save the series and stop Australia gaining any momentum heading into the Test matches starting in a fortnight’s time.
Adding to the sense of urgency for Kohli and the tourists was the shock news that Australia had summonsed death-bowling specialist Starc out of cottonwool to replace the injured Billy Stanlake (ankle).
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The fact Australia’s selectors have been prepared to go back on a plan to rest their Test quicks in the lead-up for December 6 in Adelaide for the chance to inject Starc for a sold-out T20 decider on his home soil in Sydney shows how crucial coach Justin Langer feels a confidence injection would be to his side’s summer hopes.
Fellow Australian left-arm quick Jason Behrendorff said Starc’s inclusion represented a massive game-changer.
“The obvious thing is his death bowling in particular. He hits the hole better than most blokes going around and he can also swing the new ball up front and bowls with good pace,” said Behrendorff.
“He’s a pretty good package to have in and a very exciting bowler to come back into the squad.”
Captain Aaron Finch said Starc can control a T20 like few others in the game.
“It’s nice. He’s obviously got so much experience in the limited overs games and we’ve seen how dominant he can be when he gets it right with the ball,” said Finch.
“Coming straight off a Shield game with an eye on the first Test, his preparations will be really good.”
India’s coaching staff was preferring to give players the day off yesterday, but Kohli sensed a need to get more work into his troops.
Coaches and high performance logic runs the Australian team, but it’s clear Kohli is India.
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a virtual sell-out for the night-time finale and the expectation is the vast majority of the 45,000 strong crowd will be Indian supporters, creating a fascinating dynamic for Australia.
“It’s been quite strange,” said Behrendorff.
“We’ve almost played an away series so far. Even in Melbourne (with 70,000) they asked for a cheer from the Aussie crowd … and you heard the cheer for the Indian crowd and the whole stadium erupted.
“It’s what it’s but it’s exciting to have big crowds to play in front of. That’s what we love doing.
“To play in front of another packed house will be great fun.”
Finch said the rivalry with India was intense and described winning the series as “huge” for Australia.
“It means a lot to us,” he said.
Big quick Stanlake will miss a few weeks of cricket after injuring ankle ligaments tripping over the boundary rope attempting to take a catch in warm-ups at the MCG.
LIKELY TEAMS FOR THIRD T20
AUSTRALIA: D’Arcy Short, Aaron Finch, Chris Lynn Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Ben McDermott, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff
INDIA: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed
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