"Foot is not moving" - After Tendulkar's SCG example, India legend gives another advice to Virat Kohli amid off-side woes in BGT 2024-25 series

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has explained the technical flaw behind Virat Kohli's dismissals in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. The 75-year-old pointed out that Kohli’s feet stay stagnant and he reaches for the deliveries, which has posed him threat outside off stump. The cricketer-turned-commentator reckoned that the 36-year-old should use his feet straight down the pitch to hit the ball from the middle of his bat.

The reaction came as Kohli departed similarly for the seventh time in the series (caught behind by the wicketkeeper or in the slip cordon). The right-hander was caught by Usman Khawaja in the slip off Mitchell Starc, departing for just five runs off 29 balls while chasing 340.

Apart from his 100 in Perth, Kohli has managed scores of 5, 7, 11, 3, 36, and 5 in the five-game series.

Gavaskar told India Today (via Indian Express):

“The (Kohli’s) foot is not going to the pitch of the ball, the foot is going straight down the pitch, not towards the ball. If the foot goes more towards the ball, you have more chances of hitting the ball from the middle.”

“Because the foot is not moving you end up reaching for the ball and that is what has been happening,” he added.

Virat Kohli ended 2024 with 417 runs in 10 Tests at an average of 24.52, including one century and a fifty.

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“He didn’t play a single cover drive” – When Sunil Gavaskar asked Virat Kohli to replicate Sachin Tendulkar’s masterclass after the 2nd BGT 2024-25 Test

Sunil Gavaskar had previously suggested Virat Kohli replicate Sachin Tendulkar’s masterclass in Sydney from 2004, where he scored an unbeaten 241 without a single cover drive. He told Star Sports:

“What Sachin Tendulkar did in Sydney? He was getting outside the off-stump in his previous three Test matches. He was getting out in the covers and slips. He didn’t play a single cover drive. He only played towards mid-off and mid-on and went on to score 241.”

"Just keep control on yourself, that ‘I am not going to play there [off stump line]’. Jaise Sachin ne double century banayi waise Kohli bhi bana sakte hain (So, like Sachin scored his double century, similarly Kohli can do it as well)," Gavaskar added.

Virat Kohli has an opportunity to deliver in the fifth and final Test in Sydney as India aim to level series 2-2. The Delhi batter might well play his last Test Down Under.