"He's going to have a good batting track": Matthew Hayden on Virat Kohli ahead of Melbourne Test

Melbourne [Australia], December 24 : Ahead of the Boxing-day Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground between Australia and India, former opener Matthew Hayden shared his thoughts on what stalwart batter Virat Kohli should do in the fourth match of the ongoing series.
The fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series is scheduled to take place in Melbourne from December 26. Virat, who scored a century in the first Test at Perth, has struggled to make an impact in the series, managing just 26 runs in his other four innings. His form across all formats this year has been underwhelming.
"There could have been magnificent wins, there could have been losses, there could have been spinning conditions--I mean, you can list off a hundred different areas where Virat Kohli, over his magnificent career, would have batted. But in Melbourne, he's going to have a good batting track. What he does need to do is find a way to continue staying at the crease. Flashing outside the off-stump is something that he's going to have to resist," Matthew Hayden said, according to Star Sports press release.
In 2023, Virat has scored 614 runs across formats at an average of 21.92, with a solitary century and two fifties, and a highest score of 100*. In nine Tests, he has scored 376 runs at an average of 25.06, with one century and one fifty in 17 innings, and a best score of 100*.
The 2020s have been challenging for Virat in Test cricket. In 37 matches and 64 innings this decade, he has accumulated 1,964 runs at an average of 31.67, with three centuries, nine fifties, and a highest score of 186.
In the ongoing ICC World Test Championship cycle, Virat has scored 687 runs in 12 matches and 21 innings, averaging 36.15, with two centuries, three fifties, and a top 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.