"Once he loses that, he is finished" - Muttiah Muralitharan wants Virat Kohli to continue being aggressive ahead of 2023 World Cup

Former Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan believes Virat Kohli's aggression brings the best out of the star batter and that reflects in his performances.

There has been a lot of talk about Kohli's aggressive celebrations on the field and some even questioned whether it was a bit over-the-top. Kohli seems to have mellowed down quite a lot from his early days, but Muralitharan wants the star player to continue wearing his heart on his sleeve.

Here's what Muttiah Muralitharan said on the podcast 'TRS' about Virat Kohli:

"Even if he isn't the captain, you will see that he will celebrate (the wicket) more than the bowler. That's his passion for the game. So once he loses that, he is finished. Until that, many people will be saying he is aggressive. Be yourself. Outside, he is a gentleman, He is quiet, calm and is a nice person."

Muralitharan further added:

"That's the passion. That's why he is Kohli and he shouldn't change that. I always say never change the attitude. He should do what he is doing in the middle otherwise his performance will drop."

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India need Virat Kohli to fire against Australia

Kohli is coming into the 2023 World Cup on the back of some decent form. He scored a brilliant hundred against Pakistan in the Super Fours stage of the Asia Cup and also has a half-century under his belt against Australia in his previous ODI.

With Shubman Gill likely to miss out due to fever, the hosts need their big guns Kohli and Rohit Sharma to bat long and big against the Aussies on Sunday.

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India's World Cup Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami.