Virat Kohli, who struck a sparkling 77 in the previous game against Delhi Capitals, has been reminded of a trap by his modern-day contemporary Steve Smith. The dreaded outside off-stump line against the left-arm quick Mitchell Starc. Kohli is the most complete batter of the modern era but has tended to get out outside off-stump, mostly by getting caught in the slips. And ahead of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL fiery IPL 2024 clash against Kolkata Knight Riders, Smith highlighted how Starc will be keen to lay the same trap to dismiss Kohli.

Back when Starc last played the IPL in 2015, he was Kohli’s teammate at RCB. Eight years later, they will be opponents with Starc trying to prove a point. Bought for a record purchase of INR 24.75 crore by KKR at the IPL auction in December, Starc dished out pretty expensive figures, getting belted for 0/53 by the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Chinnaswamy hasn’t been the kindest of venues for bowlers, but rest assured, Smith has backed Starc to come steaming in at Kohli all guns blazing.

“I quite like [Starc’s] match-up to Virat, the ability to swing the ball back down the line as a lefty, We have seen him [Kohli] get out on a few occasions to Shaheen Afridi, Trent Boult, Mohammad Amir. In the first game against Punjab Kings, Kohli had an opportunity off Sam Curran dropped at slip. So I quite like the left-handed match-up,” Smith said on the ‘ESPNcricinfo TimeOut’.

Kohli is yet to be dismissed by Starc in T20Is and has scored 47 runs off 28 balls, but the former RCB captain has occasionally been troubled by left-arm pacers in the past. Think of the Mohammad Amir dismissal in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy or the LBW off Trent Boult at the 2019 World Cup semis, history is littered with instances of Kohli appearing a tad tentative against quality left-arm pace, more so when the ball is moving in.

Smith backs Kohli to be aware of what’s about to him

However, Smith feels Kohli will be ready for whatever it is that Starc has in his arsenal. Having already chosen Kohli as the best batter in the world and among the ‘Fab Four’ which Smith himself is a part of, the former Australia captain feels the Starc vs Virat duel promises to stand out head-and-shoulders above everything else.

“Starc’s going to swing the ball back down the line early on, I’d imagine, and then use the wobble seam to go across him [Kohli], and potentially try and nick him off,” Smith said. “It’s going to be a good game, and I’m aware Virat would know how Starc’s trying to attack him as well – whether he tries to potentially come down the track [to] just take the swing out of play [we’ll see]. It’s going to be interesting to see how he counters it,” he added.

“You obviously learn as you go along, and you understand what players are trying to do to try and get you out. I’m sure he would have seen that [data], and tried to improve on that throughout. So it’s going to be a nice match-up.”