"Don't Want To Jinx But...": Jasprit Bumrah Shuts Down Virat Kohli's Critics In Style

Ahead of the first Test against Australia of the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Indian skipper Jasprit Bumrah shared that star India batter Virat Kohli looked extremely sharp in the nets, but added that he did not want to jinx it. The first Test between India and Australia will kickstart on Friday at Perth's Optus Stadium. Both sides, placed at the top two spots of the ICC World Test Championship points tally will be aiming to make their chances for the final stronger. While India seeks to bounce back after a rare, but humiliating home setback against New Zealand, Australia would be aiming to avoid a hat-trick of series losses to India at home.

Speaking at the pre-match press conference about Virat, Bumrah said, "I made my debut under Virat Kohli, he is a leader in the team. He is one of the greatest. He is the utmost professional we have in our team, I do not wanna jinx, but he was looking sharp in the nets."

After a disastrous home season with the bat against Bangladesh and New Zealand and underwhelming Test numbers over the years, which includes just two centuries, Virat would be making his fifth and one of his toughest tours to Australia. All the speculation around Virat's form, future in Test cricket and lack of centuries have not affected his hype in Australia as newspapers feature posters and attractive images/slogans highlighting the larger-than-life status the batter enjoys in Australia. But all the hype does not take away from the fact that the series could be make-or-break for his Test legacy.

Virat's form from 2016-2019 is among the greatest peaks in the longest format, having made 4,208 runs in 43 Tests and 69 innings at an average of 66.79, with 16 centuries and 10 fifties. It was during this