Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli during a training session.
Credit: PTI Photo
Sydney: Former Australian pacer Brett Lee has advised India skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli to hit the "reset button", work on their technique and hit the ground running in the five-Test series against Australia, beginning in Perth in less than 10 days' time.
The two batting stalwarts will be keenly observed during the Border-Gavaskar series Down Under following their underwhelming performance in the 0-3 Test whitewash by New Zealand recently.
"When you have a couple of bad runs back to back, that's when the pressure gets set in. So, I guess the thing now is that someone like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, they've just got to go back to the drawing board," Lee said on his YouTube channel.
"They are champions because they do the basics better than anybody else. Then, just hit the reset button, almost." Lee also warned that the Australian pacers would be aiming to attack Rohit and Kohli with the new ball, and that they should quickly sort their batting.
"(They should) work on their technique, freshen up, get away from cricket for as much as they can and then hit the ground running when they go to Australia because I can promise you the Australian fast bowlers will be attacking Rohit Sharma with that brand-new ball," he added.
Rohit has managed 588 runs in 11 Tests at an average of just 29.40 this year, while Kohli has accumulated 250 runs in six Test at an average of 22.72.
Lee felt the tendency of the two batter to be too aggressive might have resulted in their poor show so far this year.
"It's hard to put your finger on why they (Rohit and Kohli) failed. If you first look at the way that Rohit Sharma got out, a lot to the quicks.
"So, I can't say there's a technical fault there because I've seen him play for the last decade. I still believe he's one of the best players of the pull shot in world cricket, but maybe he's a little bit too aggressive.
"Maybe there were a couple of shots... was there a technique issue? Was his bat leaving his pad a bit too early? Was he getting that far forward or not enough forward? Or, was he sort of being a little bit hesitant?" Lee wondered.