“The tournament is happening after a long time. I have always liked this tournament. It represents consistency as you have to be in the top 8 of the rankings (to qualify). The level of competition is always good,” Kohli said yesterday.

The 37-year-old Rohit and Kohli, 36, got back among the runs to some degree in India's 3-0 ODI home sweep of England last week.

Superstar Indian cricketer Virat Kohli flopped on his first domestic cricket match in more than a decade Friday to the dismay of thousands who turned out to see him play.

India coach Gautam Gambhir said veteran batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli still have a future in the team if they want it, despite disappointing returns on the Test tour of Australia.

The incident occurred at the end of the 10th over on the first day of the Melbourne Test when Kohli bumped the Australia debutant's shoulder, which led to a heated exchange between the two players.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) bans "inappropriate physical contact" and those found guilty can be suspended for matches if the offence is deemed serious enough.

India captain Rohit Sharma has backed Virat Kohli to overcome his problems with deliveries outside the off-stump in Australia, saying on Tuesday that players of his calibre always find a way to succeed.

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.

Indian media feared on Sunday that the cricketing powerhouse's first home Test series defeat in 12 years might herald the end of a golden era of players such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

India captain Rohit Sharma said he was proud of his team for battling back from their lowest home total of 46 to make a match of the first Test against New Zealand, despite going down to an eight-wicket defeat on Sunday.

Joining England great Alastair Cook and Indian women's pioneer Neetu David in the latest class of inductees, de Villiers finished his career with over 20,000 runs across the three international formats, and is regarded as one of the first true three-format batting greats.

India batters Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant gifted their bats to Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan after the second and final Test between the sides at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur on Tuesday. It was Shakib’s final away Test for Bangladesh who lost the match by seven wickets and went down 2-0 in the series. Kohli brought out his bat and gave it to Shakib and Pant followed suit as players from both sides started to gather for the presentation ceremony. Photo: BCB