Maxwell to go 'silent' against Kohli & men

While Australia's skipper Steve Smith has given his boys the license to sledge Virat Kohli and his men; all-rounder Glenn Maxwell, opposite to his nature, has some other plans to stop the Indian run-machine in the upcoming four-match Test series beginning February 23 at Pune.

Guess what's that? SILENCE it is! Maxwell would try to be silent as he believes Kohli is in such a form that "there's not too much agitating him".

"I'm probably not going to say a thing to him," news.com.au quoted Maxwell as saying in Mumbai.

"He (Kohli) is up and down with sledging. I suppose if you strike a chord with him or something gets him agitated to play a big shot, blokes are more likely to go for it."

The 28-year-old said that the entire Australian team have been watching Kohli play over the last few months and have just admired the way he's gone about it.

The Indian skipper is arguably in career-best form, having recently taken his game to another level. He has scored four double centuries in the last four Test series he played.

With the victory in the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Hyderabad, Kohli has taken his unbeaten streak in Test matches to 19 and surpassed Sunil Gavaskar.

Kohli also overcame Mohammad Azharuddin's record of winning 14 Tests under his captaincy.

He also became the third most successful captain of India after Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly.

So, one would wonder as to how to stop Kohli who is regarded by many good judges as the best batsman in the world?

"It can only just take one bit of bad luck, or an unfortunate dismissal where he's run out or something like that, that can sometimes trigger a little bit of indecision or doubt," Maxwell said.

Australia are touring India for a full Test series for the first time since they were whitewashed 0-4 by the hosts in the 2012-13 season.

Australia later defeated India 2-0 in a four-Test rubber played Down Under in the 2014-15 season.

Australia, which sit at the second spot in the ICC Test Rankings following a 3-0 whitewash in their home series against Pakistan, will face a herculean task against India.

Australia have never won a Test match in India since 2004 and their last series win in Asia came against Sri Lanka in 2011.

They have since suffered nine straight Test losses in the subcontinent.

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