'Got to be an attacking approach' – Zampa weighs in on rivalry with Kohli

The Australia leg-spinner got the better of Kohli at Wankhede, in the first of three ODIs between Australia and India on Tuesday, 14 January. The Indian captain's dismissal was a crucial point in the game, as the hosts were reduced to 156/4, and eventually bundled out for 255.

Zampa, who finished with figures of 1/53 in the game, believes it's important to start on the front foot against players like Kohli early in their innings. "It's got to be an attacking approach," he said on the eve of the second ODI. "I think if you're on the back foot and have a defensive mindset then that's when he can get on top of you.

"The most important thing playing in places like India against these guys is to have a little bit of character. You probably know you're going to get hit for boundaries but it can really get worse if you make that affect you. I have got him a few times now but I don't think there is anything in it. He still scores at (a strike-rate of) over 100 against me."

Kohli has faced 97 balls against Zampa, scoring 126 runs and with a strike-rate of 129.9 and has lost his wicket four times.

“We basically just find that Virat finds leg-spinners hard to line up early in his innings, to be honest. He’s such a great starter, even the other day he was 16 off 14 or whatever it was, how much energy he brought to the crease, his running between the wickets, some of the cover drives he played off the quicks," acknowledged Zampa.

”I think it’s important to try and have a gameplan to him, so we figured out for that last game that it would be good to start with leg-spin to him. It might be different next game. As it’s been mentioned, I’ve got him out four times in the last year or so it’s nice to have that confidence to bowl to him at the start of his innings.”

Australia and India lock horns in the second ODI in Rajkot on Friday, 17 January. Australia lead the three-match series 1-0.