Smith looks to ruffle Kohli’s feathers in India

Smith felt that going after Kohli would distract the Indian captain’s focus from the game, which according to the Australian would be advantageous for the visitors. “He is a world-class player and he has, obviously, led the Indian team incredibly well over the last 18 months or so,” Smith said on ABC Grandstand. 

“They have won a lot of games in that time and I think they have played a lot of cricket at home in that time as well. I think he has improved a lot body language wise”. “He is a very emotional character out on the field, but I think he has improved a lot there”. 

“I guess for us as a team it’s trying to get him out of the strong emotional state and try and make him, I guess, a little bit angry and ruffle his feathers and things like that”. “I think if you can get him in that state then the Indian team can possibly be a little bit vulnerable,” Smith added. 

India have been invincible at home stretching their run to 18 matches, with Kohli himself and the world’s top all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin performing incredibly well. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, with his slow left-arm spin has become a nightmare for visiting teams in the recent past. Kohli now averages 60.76 against Australia. He became only the fifth player after Michael Clarke, Brendon McCullum, Ricky Ponting and Don Bradman to record three double centuries in a calendar year when he hit 235 in Mumbai.