Perhaps forgetting Australian cricket’s new persona of respect and humility, fast bowler Pat Cummins has declared that India batting maestro Virat Kohli will not score a Test hundred on their summer tour Down Under.

India are to play four Tests between 6 December and 7 January in Australia.

Kohli averages 53.4 in Test cricket but in Australia, that figure climbs to 62, which is quite remarkable given some of the game’s best batsmen have struggled in Australian conditions. He scored four hundreds on India’s last tour of Australia in 2014-15.

But, said Cummins, when asked for his prediction on the series outcome, ‘My brave, bold prediction… I’d say I think Virat Kohli is not going to get a hundred and we’re going to knock them off over here.’

Cummins and fellow fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood believe they can nullify Kohli and his run-scoring feats, ignoring the fact that Kohli ended as top scorer for India in the three-Test series against South Africa in January and February, with a hundred and a fifty among the six innings.

And also ignoring that South Africa scored five hundreds against the much-vaunted Australian attack in four Tests in March.

Australian fast bowling legend Glenn McGrath has urged the quicks to go hard at Kohli, saying that if they can rattle the side’s leader, a series win can come about far easier.

‘I want to see Australians put pressure on Kohli and just see how he handles it,’ McGrath said. ‘It’s going to be a good, hard, tough series. Kohli has got a bit of an aggressive attitude but showed last time he was out here he’s not going to take a backward step.’

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images