Legendary Sunil Gavaskar advised Virat Kohli to revisit Sachin Tendulkar’s iconic knock in Sydney in 2004 to overcome his issues with the line outside the off-stump in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Gavaskar suggested that Kohli should resist the urge to drive at deliveries outside the off-stump to break the pattern of dismissals that have plagued his form and reputation in the five-Test series in Australia.
On Monday, 16 December, Kohli was dismissed for just 3 runs in the first innings of the third Test at the Gabba in Brisbane. Kohli appeared intent on being disciplined at the start of his innings on an overcast morning. However, he was lured into playing at a wide delivery from Josh Hazlewood, resulting in a thick edge safely pouched by wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
Australia have consistently trapped Kohli with the line outside the off-stump during the series, exploiting his tendency to push and poke at deliveries away from the body.
Speaking to the broadcasters, Gavaskar recommended that Kohli study how Tendulkar decided to eliminate the cover drive from his game during the Sydney Test in 2004, which helped him tackle a similar problem.
“Yes, I think practice is different, but what happens in the middle is different. The mindset is completely different. What happens in practice is, you know, if you play a bad shot, you can get away with it. But in the match, if you are out, you are out,” Gavaskar said.
“What I think Kohli can do is maybe have a look at what Sachin Tendulkar did way back in 2004. In the first three Test matches, he got out playing for the line outside the off-stump. He got caught at slips, short gully. When he came to Sydney, he decided he was not going to play anything in the cover region. He played only between the bowler’s follow-through and to the right of the mid-off fielder, and everything else on the other side. That’s the resolve. He hardly played a cover drive; I think only after getting to 200-220 did he play one. That is the kind of mind control you should be having,” Gavaskar added.
