Steve Waugh warns Australian team ahead of Indian series: sled won’t worry Virat Kohli’s team

Former Australia captain Steve Waugh believes the sled will not work against Virat Kohli and his team when they tour Down Under for a full series after the 2020 Indian Premier League. Waugh feels that a war of words with the Indian players could backfire for the Australian team in the test series.

The India team will play a series of 3 ODI, 3 T20I and 4 tests between November 27, 2020 and January 19, 2021. The almost 2-month tour will start with the 1st and 2nd ODI in Sydney on 27 and 29 November before. moving to Canberra for the final match on December 2 at the Manuka Oval, which will also host the first T20I on December 4.

“The sled is not going to worry Virat Kohli, it doesn’t work against the big players and it’s better to leave those guys alone,” Steve Waugh said in a video posted by ESPNcricinfo.

“I think any extra motivation will make them dig deeper and get more races. So you better not tell him too much,” he added.

Steve Waugh cited Steve Smith’s impressive performance on the Australia India tour in 2016-17 and said Virat Kohli will want to surpass the Rajasthan Royal skipper in the next series.

“He (Kohli) is a world-class player, he would like to be the hitter in the series. Last time, he and Smith met in India, Smith really dominated with three hundred and Kohli didn’t get many.” “Waugh joked.

India had retained the Border-Gavaskar trophy by beating Australia 2-1 in the four-match test series and had also secured the ODIs by the same margin on their 2018-19 Down Under tour, while the 3-T20I series ended in a 1-1 draw.

Waugh also praised Kohli, who feels he’s matured a lot and will be looking for glory. “He wants India to prove its worth away from home to justify the number one spot. It has taken them to a level they may not have reached before,” Waugh added.