India Vs West Indies 2023: Virat Kohli Hits ‘Bazball’ Mode As He Practices Reverse Sweep Against Ravichandran Ashwin, WATCH

Former India captain Virat Kohli hits the nets in Barbados ahead of Team India's first Test against West Indies from next week.

Photo: ANI

Former India captain Virat Kohli is ready to pull out all stops as Team India get ready to face West Indies in the first Test at Rouseau from July 12. India have failed to win a Test match since their win over Australia in the second Test match by six wickets in Delhi.

Rohit Sharma’s Team India lost the third Test vs Australia, drew the fourth Test and then lost the WTC Final at the Oval last month. Kohli has failed to live up to his high standards in Test cricket, averaging only 26.5 in 6 Tests in 2022 and in 2023 the average is slightly better thanks to his 186 – first Test hundred in over 1,000 days – against Australia in Nagpur.

Ahead of the first Test against West Indies next week, Kohli hit the nets in Barbados and was looking in sparkling touch against Jaydev Unadkat and Ravichandran Ashwin. A video went viral on social media in which Kohli is seen hitting the ‘Bazball’ mode, practicing his reverse sweeps against Ashwin.

Watch Virat Kohli practice his reverse sweeps against Ravichandran Ashwin HERE…

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Virat Kohli batting in the nets ahead of the Test series against West Indies! #ViratKohli #INDvsWI #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/GdnRvINBWK — OneCricket (@OneCricketApp) July 5, 2023

Meanwhile, West Indies Test captain Kraigg Brathwaite believes their mental preparation and execution of skills on the field will hold key in the two-Test series against India beginning in Dominica on July 12. West Indies cricket slumped to a new low on last Saturday when the two-time champions failed to qualify for the ICC ODI World Cup to be held in India later this year.

West Indies cricketers are currently attending a training camp at the Coolidge Cricket Ground here to prepare for the series. “It’s important to start well. We are playing against India, so you know the guys are really looking forward to it,” Brathwaite was quoted as saying by Cricket West Indies (CWI).

“I think as a team, and as batsmen and bowlers, we already have those thoughts in mind about what to expect, and this is why preparation is very important. It’s all about how you prepare, knowing what we're going to get in terms of conditions, we generally know how the surfaces will play, and we already know India's team, so it’s important from now to mentally prepare, and understand the plans we want both as a bowling unit and as batters, so you know it will all come down to execution,” he added.