Border-Gavaskar Trophy always an exciting series to be part of: Kohli

Virat Kohli will be key to India's hopes of winning the fourth Test series against Australia given his impressive record against them in the five-day format. On Wednesday, Kohli said he was excited and looking forward to the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy match from Thursday.

Virat Kohli has so far scored 1682 runs in 20 Tests against Australia at an average of 48.05, including 7 hundreds and 5 half-centuries. However, Kohli's record against the Australians in India has been far from impressive, with only 1 hundred in 7 Tests. Virat Kohli last scored a Test set in November 2019 against Bangladesh.

The Indian team arrived in Nagpur last week and Virat Kohli quickly headed to the gym in preparation for the Test series. Kohli has struggled with the spin in recent years but would be keen to get better from Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon and his field mates, who is expected to help the spin very early in the match. On Wednesday, Virat Kohli posted pictures on social media to say that he is excited about the latest edition of BGT.

Virat Kohli led India to series wins in 2016-17 in India and 2018-19 in Australia. For the 2020–21 tour, Kohli returned home after the first Test in Adelaide for the birth of his daughter. However, the Indian team recovered heroically from a heavy defeat in the opening Test, winning in Melbourne and Brisbane and securing back-to-back series triumphs in Australia.

Virat Kohli also shares an interesting relationship with the Australian cricket team. In the 2014-15 tour, Kohli was in majestic form with 4 hundreds in as many Tests, but bitter words were exchanged between him and the Australian players in a heated series of matches. In 2017, Virat Kohli was beside himself with rage when Steve Smith sought help in the dressing room with a DRS recommendation and later did not mince words in the post-match press conference.

Virat Kohli is India's most successful Test captain but stepped down as captain after India took a 1-0 lead in the 1-2 series defeat in South Africa. After stepping down as Test captain, Virat Kohli has played 5 Tests so far with a top score of 45 against Sri Lanka in Mohali.