India vs Australia: ‘I had only played against him’ - Aaron Finch ‘surprised’ at Virat Kohli’s new demeanour, warns Australia against provoking him

India vs Australia: Aaron Finch expects a measured and balanced approach from the Australian bowlers, while mentioning that if they try and get under the skin of Virat Kohli, the move may backfire.

Aaron Finch may not be part of Australia’s Test squad, but the limited-overs captain has cautioned the bowlers to not try and rile up India captain Virat Kohli. Instead, Finch expects a measured and balanced approach from the Australian bowlers, while mentioning that if they try and get under the skin of Kohli, the move may backfire.

Virat Kohli and Aaron Finch. (Getty Images)

“I think there will be times when things boil over and when you have got strong characters on either team that’s going to come to a head at some point,” Finch was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald. “(But) there is a fine balance there, isn’t there? You don’t want him (Kohli) to get up and about in the contest. When he does, he can be ruthless on an opposition.”

In the past, every time Australia have gotten at Kohli’s face, the India captain has responded splendidly – he scored four centuries during the tension-filled Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2014/15. Kohli himself has said how he loves it when someone tries to provoke him, since it motivates to go even stronger. Having said that, Finch has observed a behavioural change in Kohli, believing the India skipper has gotten a lot calmer than earlier.

“I think the change is in the way he goes about it now. I think as a person he is probably a bit more relaxed out on the field and understands the tempo of the game. What really surprised me was how, he obviously does a lot of planning and preparation himself, and into the opposition, but he never focused more on the opposition than his own team,” Finch said.

In fact, the change is so drastic that Finch, who spent time with Kohli in the IPL, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore that the Australian captain finds it surprising to see Kohli being so level-headed in the things he does and the approach he has towards his game.

“At Bangalore, he was always confident in the XI players that were picked and knew that if you played well, you had every chance of winning. I was really surprised by how confident he was in everyone, he had a lot of time for everyone. He was great around the group, a lot more relaxed. I had never played with him, I had only played against him,” he said.

“We have had some great series where he has been on another level as a player but he has been right up and about in terms of being very vocal out in the middle. It was great to see that (relaxed) side of him.”