The last few months have been quite tough for Virat Kohli. After a string of poor performances, Kohli decided to hang his boots in the shortest format. However, runs haven’t been flowing from his bat effortlessly in the longer formats too. The top-order batter really struggled against New Zealand in the 3-match series that India lost 0-3. His struggles have been quite visible in the net sessions and practice games as well, ahead of the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Perth.

Amid the chatter around his form, Australia legend Glenn McGrath feels a couple of low scores on the Australia tour could see Virat sink even lower in terms of form.

“If they go hard at him, if he gets in the fight with emotions, there’s a bit of chat out there, who knows he might sort of lift,” McGrath told CODE Sports’ Daniel Cherny.

“But I think he’s probably under pressure a little bit, and if he has a couple of low scores to start with, he could really feel it.

“I think he’s quite an emotional player. When he’s up, he’s up, and when he’s down, he sort of struggles a little bit.”

Team India is undoubtedly under pressure after the 0-3 hammering received in the home Test assignment against New Zealand. McGrath expects Australia to put India under pressure right from the first ball and test their nerves to come out of the rut they are presently in.

“Without a doubt, especially after coming off a 3-0 loss against New Zealand, you’ve got plenty of ammunition to back yourself up,” McGrath asserted

“So put the pressure on them and see if they’re up for it.”

Even India’s practice sessions haven’t gone as planned in Australia, with top batters like Kohli, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, etc struggling to put runs on the board.