Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden has called upon Virat Kohli to resist the temptation to hit the ball outside the off stump, citing an example of one of the finest innings played by Sachin Tendulkar during the 2003-04 Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Barring Kohli’s unbeaten century in the second innings of the first Test at Perth, the 36-year old has struggled with the bat and has constantly been caught with the ball outside the off-stump.
Hayden believes the track at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the venue for the Boxing Day Test, will be suitable for batters and backs the Indian great to come back to form if he can resist the urge to slash at the ball outside the off-stump.
"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. 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," said Hayden to Star Sports.
Hayden went on to remember one of the greatest Test innings played by Sachin when the fiery Australian bowling attack of Brett Lee, Andy Bichel, and Jason Gillespie targeted the same areas in hopes of finding the outside edge. What followed was an incredible display of resilience as the 'Master Blaster' went on to score an unbeaten 241, an innings laced with 33 boundaries but none of them came in the cover region.
And I would say he looks to go in line with the ball a bit more and looks for playing down the ground just a wee bit more, you know. I think he's an incredible cover driver, but so was Sachin Tendulkar, and he batted it out for a day. Sat in the gully licking my lips, thinking this is great stubborn batting". I didn't look like getting a catch that day, and yet I felt like I was in the game that entire series.
Sachin kept the cover drive, he actually worked his way into this innings, hit the spin off his legs well and took on the spin really well, he took to that area of concern really seriously. He put a huge cross through them and says, 'Not on my watch today.' Virat Kohli has that kind of personality, and I'm pretty sure we will see that in Melbourne," he said.
The BGT is perfectly placed to conclude with a bang with India and Australia standing levelled at 1-1. India's top order has struggled woefully in the second and third Test and the team will heavily depend on the experience and brilliance of Kohli if they are going to win the series down under for the third straight time.
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