Kohli, 36, came in for heavy criticism in the run-up to the Perth Test after scoring only 192 runs in his previous 10 innings and posting an average of 15.50 in India's three home test defeats by New Zealand.
Overcoming his recent lean patch in the longest format, Virat Kohli blazed his 30th Test ton and his first in Australia since 2018 on Day 3 of the opening Border-Gavaskar series Test in Perth.
India head into the first of five Tests against Australia on Friday in Perth on the back of their first home series loss in 12 years.
India won 2-1 against Australia on both of their last two Test tours, but suffered a 3-0 whitewash at home to New Zealand last month.
Shastri was referring to Kohli’s exceptional performances in Australia thus far - including a fighting Test ton in Adelaide in his first-ever Test tour in 2011/12, a staggering 692 runs at 86.50 from his four Tests during his second visit in 2014 and captaining India to their first-ever series win in the country in 2018/19 during which he scored an exceptional 123 in Perth.
India coach Gautam Gambhir on Monday backed "incredibly tough men" Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to prove their critics wrong and find form in Australia.
With Australia looming large, the form of 37-year-old Rohit and superstar batsman Kohli, 35, is of particular concern to Indian cricket fans.
Jadeja told reporters that "everything happened in 10 minutes", and the team "did not get time to react".
Through three World Cup titles, two World Test Championship (WTC) finals, and a 12-year Test series winning streak on home soil, Kohli and Sharma, often together, have been integral to every major Indian success of the last 17 years.
Surprising as it may be, the final of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) will not feature a single player from India's squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, starting on June 2 in the USA and the West Indies.
Kohli, 35, has led the Twenty20 tournament's batting charts with 741 runs, including a century and five fifties, but failed to inspire his team to the finish in a roller-coaster season.
Bengaluru and Kohli extend their wait for a first IPL title. Rajasthan will face Sunrisers Hyderabad in the last play-off on Friday to decide Kokata Knight Riders' opponent in the final on May 26.
Kohli was the leading run-getter at the last Men’s T20 World Cup, playing crucial knocks in key games such as his 82 not out against Pakistan and an even 50 against England in the semi-finals.
India superstar Virat Kohli tops the list for the most runs in T20 World Cups, accounting for 1141 runs in five editions. He was the highest run-getter in the 2014 edition with 319 runs in six matches – the highest by any batter in a single Men's T20 World Cup.
Kohli's strike rate and his effectiveness against spin bowling had become a hot topic of debate in recent weeks.
Kohli has been remarkably consistent in the 10-team league and is comfortably the competition's leading scorer with 634 runs from 12 matches this season.
The Tigers are yet to announce their 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, and should Shakib be selected, he would join Rohit as the only players to have competed in every T20 World Cup, sharing that honour.
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 ambassador Yuvraj Singh has hailed Virat Kohli as the best batter of this generation across formats and identified what sets him apart from the rest.
Indian cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has slammed star batter Virat Kohli for his tirade on former cricketers and analysts over their criticism of the star batter’s low strike rate.
