Indian national cricket team batsman Virat Kohli is ensuring all-out preparations for the fourth match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The Boxing Day Test match between the two teams will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne from December 26.

Virat Kohli has come under severe scrutiny after a series of low scores in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The batsman is not at his best after blasting a century in the first game of the Perth series and has struggled to make headway in the last two games.

Virat Kohli has been out to deliver in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25

Kohli has been shooting from outside since the last two games. The top-order batsman has struggled to hit the ground running, with his poor outside-off approach costing him his last two games at Adelaide and the Gabba.

He bowled Starc and then Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood’s replacement, in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide Oval. In the Gabba Test, he drove the ball towards cover against Hazlewood. This earned him a lot of criticism for his approach.

However, Virat Kohli ensured that he gave it his all to deal with the threat of balls outside off stump. His main focus during practice on Tuesday (December 24) was on the balls as he looked to deal with the threat ahead of the MCG Test.

Kohli asked pacers Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna to bowl to him outside off-stump. The batsmen also asked the pacers to bowl fast, praising them for bowling well and working on their shoulders and arms so that the bowlers could not find the edge even with the extra bounce.

Virat Kohli asks Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna to bowl to him on off-stumps

Here is the video:

Virat Kohli has a great record at the MCG

Kohli scored just 26 runs in the last 4 innings as Australia pacers troubled him in the same channel. However, the top-order batsman has been working extremely hard and it will not be a surprise if he ends up playing well in the next game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

Virat Kohli has a great record at the MCG. The batsman scored 316 runs in six innings at an average of 52.66. During his last visit, he scored 82 runs in the first innings followed by a four-ball duck in the second innings.

The Indian team has had a good record at the MCG recently. They have not lost a Test at this venue since 2011. The Rohit Sharma-led side will be keen to maintain the same record and win the game to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

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