Dubai: Former Indian cricket coach Ravi Shastri believes that star batsman Virat Kohli can improve his poor form and achieve success during the upcoming five-Test Border-Gavaskar series in Australia. Kohli has been going through a bad phase in all formats in the last few months. The 36-year-old star batsman has scored just one half-century in five Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand since the start of the year while his average has been just 21.33.

Virat has returned to where he performs best.

But Shastri has warned Australia and said that Kohli will play in the country where he loves to bat and score runs. Shastri said in 'ICC Review', 'Kohli will now play where he performs very well. That's all I will tell him. When you achieve this status after your performance in Australia, it is always in the mind of your opponent when you go out to bat.'

Shastri has given this advice to Virat for the tour.

Shastri was referring to Kohli's impressive performance in Australia, which included a fighting century in Adelaide on his first Test tour in 2011-12, scoring 692 runs in four Tests during the 2014 tour and a brilliant innings of 123 in Perth during the 2018-19 series when Kohli captained the team. Shastri, however, advised Kohli to be cautious during the initial phase of the tour.

If he plays in his rhythm, he will bat well.

The former Indian all-rounder said, 'When you are passionate and you are excited, which happens with Virat. So you should stay calm because sometimes you are very excited to go on the field and make the first move. But I think when he comes to bat, it will be very important for him to stay calm in the first half hour or in the first three innings of the series. If he can stay calm and play with his rhythm instead of hurrying, then I think he will bat well.'