Indian cricket team star batter Virat Kohli was seen sweating it out in the nets at the Melbourne Cricket Ground ahead of the crucial Boxing Day Test encounter against Australia starting Thursday. According to India Today, Kohli was welcomed with loud cheers by the fans but the star batter requested silence from the spectators as he started his session against the fast bowlers. Virat went on to face Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna and a local left-arm pacer during his session. He was also seen having a long conversation with the India pacers regarding the ideal lengths to target while bowling against him.

Virat Kohli in today’s practice session at MCGpic.twitter.com/Brvwaur4Hl

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Ahead of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, India captain Rohit Sharma has backed star batter Virat Kohli to come back strong in the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia.

Virat Kohli During Practice Session At Melbourne Cricket Ground Today. 🤍🩷

(1/4)#ViratKohli #INDvAUS #AUSvIND #BGT @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/eMQymE0BWq

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Kohli, who scored a hundred in the second innings in Perth, has endured a series of low scores of 7, 11, and 3 in the following three innings.

“Modern-day greats will figure out their own way of (carving out their) path,” said the skipper when asked about Kohli’s form at the press conference in Melbourne on Tuesday.

On the other hand, Rohit, who demoted himself to the middle order, has only accumulated 19 runs in the last two Tests. He missed the series opener due to the birth of his second child. He was also struggling in the three-Test home series against New Zealand, which India lost 3-0 to dent their World Test Championship final hopes.

With the ongoing five-match series tied at 1-1, India have a monumental task to win the last two Tests to play the championship final at Lord’s next year.

In the tour so far, India’s batting has been a major concern rather than their bowling. KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal‘s opening combination has pushed Rohit to bat late in the middle order, which might be the case behind his poor outings in Adelaide and Brisbane.

(With IANS inputs)