"Get away from cricket" - Brett Lee's advise to Team India's star duo to regain form ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
Former Australian speedster Brett Lee has advised Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to take a break from cricket to regain their form ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Lee warned that the Australian new-ball bowlers will come all out attacking against Rohit.
The Indian captain struggled against seam bowlers of both Bangladesh and New Zealand in the recent home season, registering only one half-century. Kohli had an equally forgettable home season as he failed to make the required impact with the bat.
On his YouTube channel 'Brett Lee TV', Lee said returning to the drawing board and coming back fresh will do the duo a world of good.
"When you have a couple of bad runs back-to-back, that's when the pressure could set in. I guess the thing now is someone like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma just have to go back to the drawing board."
"Work on that technique, freshen up, get away from cricket as much as they can and then hit the ground running when they go to Australia, because I can promise you – these Australian fast bowlers will attack Rohit Sharma with that brand new ball. I have seen him play a lot and I reckon they'll be ready for the Aussies."
The veteran duo's dipped returns were one of the significant reasons behind India suffering a shocking 3-0 loss to New Zealand. Hence, they now need to beat Australia 4-0 Down Under to progress to the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
"I still believe he is one of the best in world cricket" - Brett Lee on Rohit Sharma
Lee pointed out that Rohit's technique has a certain technical fault and felt he was being overly aggressive during the recent Test series. The 48-year-old added:
"If you look at the Hitman and King Kohli – they got 90 runs each in the series. It's so unlike them. They are way better players than that. It's hard to put your fingers on why they failed. If you look at the way how Rohit Sharma got out a lot to the quicks, I can't say there's a technical fault there because I have seen him play for the last decade and I still believe he is one of the best in world cricket."
"But maybe he's a little bit too aggressive. There were a couple of shots that he will think 'Was there a technique issue? Was he getting forward enough?' A little bit hesitant."
The first of the five Tests between India and Australia begins on November 22.