Gavaskar suggests Kohli study Tendulkar’s 241 in Sydney to overcome batting struggles

On a rain-interrupted third day of the ongoing Brisbane Test, Kohli faced another setback as Josh Hazlewood dismissed him caught behind for just 3 runs. India, facing a tough battle, finished the day at 51 for 4 when play was halted due to bad light.

Gavaskar said Kohli, who has scores of 5, 100 not out, 7, 11 and 3 so far on this tour, need not look beyond "his hero" Tendulkar, who responded with an exceptional 436-ball 241 including 33 fours at the SCG when he too was going through a similar phase of getting caught behind during the Australia tour of 2003-04.

Tendulkar’s knock, for which he batted more than 10 hours, is widely considered as one of his best-ever as the legendary batter curbed his instinct to drive and scored the majority of his runs on the on-side.

“He only needs to look at his hero, Sachin Tendulkar. The way in which he had kept his patience and control on his off-side game, scoring those 241 runs at Sydney,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“He did not play any shot on the off-side, or at least in the cover because before that he was getting dismissed while attempting to play in covers.

“The shots that he played were pretty much straight or on the on-side,” he added.

Gavaskar said Kohli, who has been caught behind the wickets thrice on this tour, must look to defend every single delivery in the channel of the off-stump and find other scoring areas like Tendulkar did.

“Similarly, he should keep a control on his mind and on his game. If the ball is on the off-stump, ‘I would defend it. I would not try to score of it’,” Gavaskar said.

The legendary batter said Kohli should trust his bottom-hand play more than going for his drives in order to banish his troubles.

“He has such a wonderful bottom hand play, with that he can play in that area, straight or towards midwicket,” Gavaskar said.

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