Brisbane: Great Sunil Gavaskar on Monday urged India’s superstar Virat Kohli to take inspiration from Sachin Tendulkar’s 241 against Australia in Sydney in 2004 and refrain from playing cover drives to end his constant struggle against off-stump balls. On the third day of the ongoing Brisbane Test, Kohli suffered another setback when India were 51 for 4 after Josh Hazlewood caught him for 3 runs.
Gavaskar said Kohli, who has scored 5, 100 not out, 7, 11 and 3 so far on this tour, need look no further than “his hero” Tendulkar, who scored 241 off an extraordinary 436 balls with 33 fours. During the 2003-04 tour of Australia, he was also caught in a similar situation at the SCG.
Tendulkar’s knock, for which he batted for over 10 hours, is widely regarded as one of his best ever as the legendary batsman curbed his tendency to drive and scored most of his runs on the on-side.
“He (Kohli) only has to look at his hero Sachin Tendulkar. The way he (Tendulkar) kept his composure and control in his off-side game, scored that 241 in Sydney,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
“He didn’t play any shots on the off-side or at least in the cover (region) because earlier when he tried to play it at cover he was getting out.
“The shots he played were too straight or on-side,” he added.
Gavaskar said Kohli, who has been caught behind the wicket three times on this tour, must defend every single delivery in the off-stump channel and look for other scoring areas like Tendulkar.
“Similarly, he (Kohli) has to keep his mind and his game under control. If the ball is on the off stump, (he has to think) – I will defend it. I will not try to score it,” Gavaskar said.
The legendary batsman said that Kohli should trust his lower arm game rather than going for his drives to overcome his problems.
“He has such a wonderful bottom-hand game, with which he can play in that area, straight or towards midwicket,” Gavaskar said.