Australia’s gun fast bowler Mitchell Starc is looking forward to bowling to Virat Kohli. The talisman has scored 2042 runs in 25 Test matches against Australia at an average of 47.48, including eight centuries. Kohli has even better numbers while playing in Australia as he has scored 1352 runs in 13 Test matches at an impressive average of 54.08, including six centuries.

On the other hand, Starc has scalped 358 wickets in 89 Test matches at an average of 27.74. Meanwhile, Kohli and Starc have faced each other in 19 innings, and the Indian has been dominant against the left-arm pacer in the Test format. The seasoned Indian batter has garnered 291 runs at an average of 59.00 against the fiery pace of Starc.

Starc has dismissed Kohli on four occasions in the red-ball format.

Mitchell Starc said on Star Sports, “I enjoy my battles with Virat Kohli just because we’ve played a lot of cricket against one another. I always have some good battles. I’ve obviously got him once or twice and he’s no doubt scored a fair few runs against me. So, it’s always a good contest and one we both enjoy.”

On the other hand, Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell is looking forward to the battle between Virat Kohli and Steve Smith in the Border-Gavaskar series.

Maxwell said on Star Sports, “I think the way that the two superstar batters, Steve Smith and Virat Kohli, probably head-to-head.”

“One of those two is going to make a lot of runs, if not both of them, and it’s going to be pretty exciting to watch the two of the finest players of our generation go head-to-head,” he added.

The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.