Virat Kohli begins the Australian summer with a series of milestones in his sights.
Though he’s only playing a test match because of the upcoming birth of his child, Kohli still has two white ball series to show off his class – starting with an ODI series that begins Friday.
The ONLY place to see every single game on the India Tour of Australia is Fox Cricket, which is available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your free trial now and start streaming right away>
Kohli has dominated Australia like no other in one-day cricket, averaging 54.57 points in 40 games while hitting eight 100s and eight 50s. That includes five tons in Australia, where his average in 26 games is also over 50.
Interestingly, the SCG, where India will play their first two ODIs ahead of their third game in Canberra, is by far their worst floor in Australia. Kohli averaged just nine in five innings in Sydney.
He needs to improve to get some key points this summer.
If Kohli can reach 133 runs in the three-game series, he will be the sixth player in ODI history, 12,000 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar (18,426), Kumar Sangakkara (14,234), Ricky Ponting (13,704) and Sanath Jayasuriya (13,340) exists) and Mahela Jayawardene (12,650).
At 32, he still has plenty of time to take this list up.
If he scores a century during the series, he will hit Tendulkar’s nine ODI centuries mark against Australia – a record. It took Tendulkar 70 innings to hit the mark.
Kohli would also hit Ricky Ponting’s record for the second most international centuries at 71, as Kohli currently has 70. Tendulkar even scored 100.
None of these milestones appear outside of Kohli’s grasp. “There aren’t too many cracks in his armor,” said Australian captain Aaron Finch. “He’s probably the best one-day player of all time. It’s about sticking to our plans and really getting involved in that regard.
“What we have to keep in mind is that we have to keep looking to get him out. If you want to distance yourself from that and contain players, you may be missing out on a trick. “
HOW CAN I WATCH?
All summer of cricket is live on Fox Cricket, including Sheffield Shield and Big Bash League. All ODIs and T20 games are exclusive to Fox Cricket, which is available on Foxtel and Kayo.
The ONLY place to see every single game on the India Tour of Australia is Fox Cricket, which is available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your free trial now and start streaming right away>
Test matches will be broadcast on both Channel 7 and Fox Cricket.
ABC Radio will also broadcast the international games via audio stream.
WHEN DOES IT RUN?
The summer was originally supposed to be huge for Australia with a T20 World Cup and a series against Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, the West Indies and New Zealand.
But India will give cricket fans the main event they have all been looking for as the summer of cricket kicks off with the ODI series of three games, followed by a T20 series of three games and a test series of four tests, which ends in January.
First ODI: November 27, SCG, 2.40 p.m. AEDT
Second ODI: November 29, SCG, 2.40 p.m. AEDT
Third ODI: December 2, Manuka Oval, 2.40 p.m. AEDT
REST OF SUMMER
First T20: December 4th, Manuka Oval, 7:10 p.m. AEDT
Second T20: December 6, SCG, 7:10 p.m. AEDT
Third T20: December 8, SCG, 7:10 p.m. AEDT
First test: December 17-21, Adelaide Oval, D / N, 3 p.m. AEDT
Second test: 26.-30. December, MCG, 10.30 a.m. AEDT
Third test: January 7-10, SCG, 10.30 a.m. AEDT
Fourth test: 15.-19. January, Gabba, 11 a.m. AEDT
SQUADS
Australia ODI & T20 squads: Aaron Finch (c), Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (vc), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Sams, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis , Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (week), Sanju Samson (week), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami , Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.
FORM
Although not much international cricket was played, Australia won an ODI series 2-1 in England in September.
India’s last streak was in New Zealand in February when the Kiwis defeated the side 3-0.
The encounters between these teams are always close. All three series since 2018 have played a crucial game.
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