‘Looking to test my patience?’ Sachin Tendulkar’s old video offers Virat Kohli valuable advice for BGT in Australia

Virat Kohli’s poor shot selection in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) has been questionable. Although the former India captain scored an unbeaten century in the first Test in Perth, Kohli was guilty of chasing deliveries wide of the off-stump in Adelaide and Brisbane, which led to his dismissals.

Legendary Sunil Gavaskar, who is currently on commentating duty in the ongoing India vs Australia series, has been vocal about Kohli’s issue with deliveries outside the off-stump. The Little Master, as he is fondly known, has repeatedly urged the stylish Indian batter to go back to the drawing board and rectify his mistakes.

After the Adelaide Test, Gavaskar advised Kohli to follow Sachin Tendulkar’s template, which helped the Master Blaster regain form in Sydney against Australia in 2004.

Tendulkar refrained from chasing the deliveries outside off-stump and succeeded. “Just like Sachin Tendulkar did in Sydney, in the previous three Test matches, he was getting out outside the off-stump, caught in the covers, or in the slips.”

“He didn’t play even one cover drive, only played straight and scored around two hundred and fifty runs by controlling himself and deciding not to play there. If he plays like this, just as Sachin scored a double century, Kohli can also do the same,” Gavaskar had said.

How did Sachin rectify himself in 2004?

Amid all this, an old video of Tendulkar’s batting from the Sydney Test went viral on social media. The video features highlights of his batting against the mighty Aussies, along with an explanation of how he rectified his approach during that tour.

“Which shot is dismissing you? You need to analyse that. Not playing cover drive was not a plan. But as soon as I went and stood on the ground, I saw that Australians were trying to play with my patience,” Tendulkar says in the video.

“All the balls are being thrown out. That triggered me somewhere. So I said, ‘OK, you are challenging me. Are you looking to test my patience?’ Let’s see, me alone or you 11? Let’s see who loses the patience first,” he adds.