Steve Waugh calls on Aussies to avoid sledging 'world-class player' Virat Kohli in Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh has called on his country's players to refrain from sledging Virat Kohli in the upcoming Test series between the two sides as it could end up motivating the Indian skipper to perform well.

Australia and India are slated to lock horns in the four-match series in the longest format of the game Down Under in December-January.

And legendary cricketer Waugh feels that Kohli's current form with the bat will play a significant role in India's defence of the Border Gavaskar Trophy and that sledging could result in giving the great player like the 32-year-old an added motivation.

"Sledging is not going to worry Virat Kohli.doesn't work against the great players and you're better off leaving those guys alone. I think any extra motivation will make them dig in more and get more runs. So you're better off not saying much to him," Waugh said in a video on ESPNcricinfo.

Waugh did not stop there and further went on to say that 'world-class player' Kohli will be eager to come up with a better peformance this time around and outscore his Australian counterpart Steve Smith in the upcoming series.

"He (Kohli) is a world-class player. He would want to be the batsman of the series. Last time, he and Smith came up against each other in India, Smith really dominated with three hundreds and Kohli didn't get many.That would be at the back of his mind that last time he was outscored by Steve Smith. So, he will want to score lot of runs and if he does, India will have a great chance of winning," the former Australian skipper said.

Under Kohli's captaincy, India became the first Asian side to defeat Australia in a Test series Down Under in 2018-19. The skipper, who is currently leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 2020 Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE, produced a decent performance with the bat during that series with a total of 283 runs in the four-match series.

India will look to kickstart their defence in the 2020 Border-Gavaskar Trophy on a winning note when they head into the day-night Test match from December 17 in Adelaide, which will be followed by matches in Melbourne (December 26), Sydeney (January 7) and Brisbane (Januart 15).

Australia, on the other hand, will be eager to come up with a better performance than last time and keen to clinch the series against the Kohli-led side at their own den. The hosts will be boosting with confidence because of the return of their former skipper Steve Smith and former vice-captain David Warner who both missed the last series due to the one-year suspension imposed on them for their involvement in ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in March 2018.