Virat Kohli should not be looking to replicate Sachin’s Sydney knock: Clarke

Over the last two months in the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Virat Kohli’s indecisiveness outside the off-stump has become the burning story for nearly 1.42 billion people. Barring the second innings in Perth, Kohli has gotten out in the same fashion across all eight other innings, showing a very evident weakness. 

It has even sparked a debate across platforms as to whether Kohli has it in himself to replicate what Sachin Tendulkar did in Sydney in the 2003-04 Border-Gavaskar Trophy when he left the ball outside the off-stump. 

But former Australian skipper Michael Clarke doesn’t want Kohli, the run-scoring machine, to go the Sachin route and instead asks the right-hander to keep attacking the ball outside the off-stump. 

“At certain stages in the series, you saw Kohli defend the balls that he's nicking. He’s pushing at it, and you saw him make a 100. Sometimes, we see our deficiencies more than our strengths. This guy is a one-of-a-kind player. He needs to keep believing that. I don’t think he needs to let that ball go; if he intends to score, he should keep going,” Clarke said on his YouTube channel, Beyond23 Cricket Podcast

Not just that, Clarke also blindly backed the former Indian skipper to get himself out of the rut, stating that he’s perhaps one of the greatest problem solvers in cricket and can see this one through as well. 

“Sachin is a very different player from Virat Kohli; I saw many people ask Kohli to replicate what Sachin did in Sydney by letting the ball go outside off stump. Virat’s greatest strength is bat on ball; bat on ball is fine. Playing the ball is his strength; he should be looking to get closer to the ball. Get your foot close to the ball and your head close to the ball,” he added.

Clarke did not doubt that Kohli could bounce back from this rut and added that ‘People who write Kohli off are quite silly.'

“I think he needs to go 'I have to be sharp on my feet, and I have to have more intent and confidence'. Mate, it is Virat Kohli. He can walk out and make a 200 tomorrow. If someone is silly enough to write Kohli off, more fool them. If he retires from Test cricket right now, only India will lose out.”

Kohli had quite an ordinary show in the recently-concluded BGT, with just 190 runs across five Tests despite scoring a 100 in Perth. Despite this lull, Clarke maintained that he would back the former Indian skipper to the hilt. 

“If I was captain of any team with Kohli, I’d be fighting to keep him in the team. That guy is a once-in-a-generation player; I would definitely keep him.”