Ganguly rallies behind Kohli to regain his mojo: ‘Don’t want to read too much…’

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has backed Virat Kohli to regain his mojo in Australian conditions as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy kicks off on November 22 in Perth. Kohi has been put under the scanners after his underwhelming performance in the home Test season, but critics feel that the Australia series is coming at the right time for him as he enjoys batting Down Under.
The batting maestro has scored just 250 runs in 12 Test innings this year so far, across six matches at an average of 22.72 and failed to breach the triple-figure mark.
However, he has an exemplary record in Australia with 1352 runs in 13 Tests at a sublime average of 54.08, which included 6 centuries.
Ganguly asserted that it is going to be a massive series for Kohli as it could be his last Test tour on Australian soil.
“Absolutely, he is a champion batter. And he has had success in Australia in the past. He scored four hundreds in 2014, scored a hundred in 2018 as well. He will want to make this series count, and he will also know this could be the last time he is touring Australia to play Test cricket. So, in every sense, this is a massive series for Kohli,” Ganguly told Revzsports.
In the recently concluded home Test season, Kohli managed to get 192 runs in 10 innings at an average of 21.33, with just one fifty. He struggled against the spinners and registered a string of low scores: 6, 17, 47, 29*, 0, 70, 1, 17, 4 and 1.

However, Ganguly is not too worried about Kohli’s form in the recent New Zealand series. He feels that the pitches weren’t suitable for batting there, and they won’t be the same in Australia.
“I don’t want to read too much into the New Zealand series. The pitches did not allow good batting. In Australia, he will enjoy the conditions. There will be good pitches. I am backing Virat to deliver in Australia in this series,” he added.
The former India captain further told critics not to write off Sarfaraz Khan despite his inconsistent show in the New Zealand series. He slammed a 150-plus score in the first Test but then failed to get going in the last two matches of the series.
Ganguly suggested he should be given a chance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy before judging whether he is suited to the Australian conditions.
“You have to give him a chance to know. How can you say anything without giving him an opportunity? Let him fail first. He has scored tons of runs in domestic cricket and has earned his spot in the team. No one has given it to him. So don’t write him off before you have given him a chance. Once you do so, then you will be in a position to judge. I am very clear – you must give him an opportunity to know how good or bad he is. Without doing so, don’t pass judgment on him,” Ganguly concluded.