We want to make Virat Kohli 'angry' says Steve Smith

Smith says he wants to ruffle Kohli’s feathers

Australia captain Steve Smith has tried to land an early psychological punch on Indian Test captain Virat Kohli by saying that they will look to make him “a little bit angry” during the upcoming four-Test match series.

Kohli has been quite sensational in the last few months. In the recently concluded series, where India thrashed England 4-0, Kohli scored 655 runs at an average of 109.16. His recent run of form has also helped him in lifting his Test average to 50.10 and he is presently the second best batsman the ICC Test batting rankings behind Smith.

"He is a world-class player and he has, obviously, led the Indian team incredibly well over the last 18 months or so," Smith was quoted by the CA website. "They have won a lot of games in that time and I think they have played a lot of cricket at home in that time as well. I think he has improved a lot body-language wise. “

“He is a very emotional character out on the field, but I think he has improved a lot there. I guess for us as a team it's trying to get him out of the strong emotional state and try and make him, I guess, a little bit angry and ruffle his feathers and things like that.”

“I think if you can get him in that state then the Indian team can possibly be a little bit vulnerable.”

Kohli has thrived since taking over the captaincy from Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2014 and has scored 15 hundreds and 14 half-centuries from 53 Tests. When he cracked the 235 in Mumbai against England a few days back he joined the list of Michael Clarke, Brendon McCullum, Ricky Ponting and Don Bradman as the fifth player to score four double tons in a year.

India are currently sitting atop the ladder in Test rankings after going 17 matches unconquered, while Australia are second on the list after their victory at Brisbane in the first Test. But they have not triumphed on Indian soil since a 2-1 series win in 2004. They are also coming off dismal Test series performances against Sri Lanka and South Africa and therefore Smith knows they will have a tough job in their hands when they reach India.

"We go there in February and, no doubt, it's going to be an incredibly difficult tour – going to India always is,” Smith said. “Four Tests there, it's a great opportunity for this team, where we are going to be the underdogs going there. It would be fantastic to win a series there and we are going to have to make sure our processes are in order and we play a lot better than we have done in subcontinent conditions.”