Virat Kholi might have scored a century in the Perth Test against Australia in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but the problem of fishing outside the off-stump remains. The right-handed batter, who has 30 Test tons to his name, has kept chasing deliveries outside the off-stump, leading to dismissals in Adelaide and Brisbane. Former Australia opening batter Matthew Hayden has asked Kohli to take a leaf out of Sachin Tendulkar’s book.
Sachin Tendulkar famously refrained from playing a single cover drive against Australia during the Sydney Test in 2004. Hayden has now asked Kohli to follow the same and try to play with more discipline during the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
“There could have been magnificent wins, there could have been losses, there could have been spinning conditions, I mean, you can list off a hundred different areas where Virat Kohli, over his magnificent career, would have batted. But in Melbourne, he’s going to have a good batting track,” Hayden told Star Sports.
“What he does need to do is find a way to continue staying at the crease. Flashing outside the off-stump is something that he’s going to have to resist. And I suggest – he gets in line with the ball a bit more and looks to play down the ground a little bit more,” he added.
Since scoring a ton in Perth, Kohli has registered scores of 7, 11 and 3 in his next three innings.
‘Learn from Sachin Tendulkar’
Hayden asked Kohli to learn from Sachin Tendulkar, who refrained from fishing outside the off stump in the entire 613 minutes long innings in Sydney after going through a rough patch of form during the 2004 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“I know he (Kohli) has a magnificent cover driver, but so did Sachin Tendulkar, and he put it away for a day. I sat in the gully licking my lips, thinking, you know what, this is magnificent, stubborn batting,” Hayden said.
“I didn’t look like getting a catch that day, and yet I felt like I was in the game that entire series. So, Sachin put away the cover drive, worked his way into the innings, hit off his legs beautifully, took on the spin, and addressed the areas of concern. He put a big cross through them and said, ‘Not on my watch today.’ Virat Kohli has got that personality, and I’m sure we’ll see it in Melbourne,” he added.
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is currently level 1-1, and both India and Australia have everything to play for in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
