"Virat Kohli will wake up differently if the match is against Australia" - Ravi Shastri ahead of WTC final

Former India all-rounder and head coach Ravi Shastri believes that an opposition like Australia will get the best out of Virat Kohli in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval, beginning on Wednesday, June 7.

Shastri stressed just how much Kohli loves the big occasions and feels that his record against Australia in Tests would only boost his confidence further. Kohli averages more than 48 in 24 Tests against the Aussies, with a staggering eight Test hundreds to his name.

Ahead of the WTC final, here's what Ravi Shastri was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times about Virat Kohli:

"Virat Kohli will wake up differently if the match is against Australia, he smells the coffee much earlier if it's Australia, so if he gets going, gets to 20, then we will have some fun."

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Virat Kohli on rivalry between India and Australia

Earlier, in an interview with Star Sports, Kohli opened up on how the rivalry between India and Australia has turned into mutual respect over the past few years. He feels the fact that India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy twice Down Under in the past five years had a lot to do with the rivalry mellowing down.

On this, Kohli stated:

"The rivalry between India and Australia, in the early days, used to be a lot intense. There used to be a tense environment. But after we won 2 series in Australia, the rivalry has turned into respect.

"We can't be taken lightly as a Test team. We can see the respect the oppositions have for us. They expect us to give a close fight even in their conditions. We can't be taken lightly anymore."

India WTC final squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Ravichandran Ashwin, KS Bharat (wk), Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Cheteshwar Pujara, Axar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadakt, Umesh Yadav.

Reserves: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav.