Commenting on the atmosphere at the ground where he picked his 700th Test wicket, Warne said Melbourne is the sporting capital of the world and he loves coming to the G.
New Delhi, December 25:
The historic Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground is less than 24 hours away and former Australia spinner Shane Warne feels that this will be the best Boxing Day Test in a long while. The reason behind this, Warne feels, is not just the fact two quality teams are battling it out with the series locked at 1-1, but also because the greatest cricketer on the planet will be a part of this historic moment come Wednesday — Virat Kohli.
“As a kid you dream of doing something amazing at the G and a few get lucky. It is electrifying, there is goosebumps and there is noise. Year after year, it is always good. This year it is great. It is great because the Test series is locked at 1-1. It is great because it is the best Test series on our shores in a long, long time.
“And it is great because of this guy, Virat Kohli — the greatest cricketer on the planet. And now we have an Australian captain in Tim Paine, a class act. Toe to toe, box office,” Warne said in a video for Fox Sports, shared by Brett Lee on Facebook.
Commenting on the atmosphere at the ground where he picked his 700th Test wicket, Warne said: “I love this town, it is the sporting capital of the world. And I love this place, the mighty Melbourne Cricket Ground. We come here every Boxing Day for Australia’s biggest day of cricket — Day 1 of the Melbourne Test match. More than 80,000 fans in the stands, millions listening and watching around the world, magically drawn to the history and tradition. This is where reputations are made,” he said.
Kohli has in fact asked his batsmen to back the performance of his bowlers in the Boxing Day Test. “It is very important for batsmen to stand up, because as everyone can see, our bowling has been performing really well. Otherwise, the bowlers won’t be able to do anything with the totals that we have been compiling,” skipper Kohli said on the eve of the third Test.
“If we are batting second, we will try to take the lead or get as close to the opposition total as possible. If you equal a big score, then it becomes a second-innings’ match and if you take a good first-innings lead, then you can capitalize on that.
“The batsmen must step up collectively. I won’t say individually whether someone needs to do that or not, but as a batting unit, we have to definitely put up a better performance,” Kohli sent out a loud and clear message for his batting unit.
