Former English skipper Michael Vaughan believes Virat Kohli is on his last tour of Australia and might even be playing his last series against one of his favorite opponents. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 begins on Friday (November 22) in Perth.
India and Australia will next come head-to-head in a bilateral series in October-November 2025 for three ODIs and five T20Is. The next BGT will take place in January-February 2027 when Kohli, who turned 36 this month, will be 38.
"For India, Kohli is surely on his last tour of Australia, and is likely playing his last series against Australia," Vaughan wrote in his column for The Telegraph. "He has been such a big part of this rivalry. He scored four hundreds in a losing cause in 2014, then captained them to a win in 2018-19, before going home after one Test of another famous series win in 2020-21 on paternity leave."
Kohli has scored 2042 runs against Australia in 25 Tests at an average of 47.49. He kicked off his lavish era of Test captaincy in Australia in 2014-15 and became the first Indian captain to win a series here, in 2018-19.
Would love to see Kohli get a bit of a snarl back: Vaughan
The former England captain said he'd love Kohli to get back some "snarl" in his game because is a "better player" when he seeks confrontation, before admitting that it might be difficult without the captaincy armband.
"Kohli has a lot to prove after a poor run in Test cricket, but loves these conditions. I would love to see him get a bit of a snarl back in his game. He is a better player when he seeks out confrontation, and that is easier to do when you are captain and setting the tone for a team. When you are just a member of someone else’s team, it is harder to seek that drama and those clashes," Vaughan said.
After Perth, India and Australia will play in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney.
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