Virat Kohli urged to emulate Sachin Tendulkar's patience and brilliance at SCG: 'I won't be chasing...'

Gilchrist has suggested to Kohli to follow in the footsteps of Tendulkar's success at SCG in 2004 by refraining from playing the cover drive. In that memorable Test match, Australia had strategized to target Tendulkar with the cover drive, but he defied their plans by resisting the temptation to play the shot. Tendulkar's sharp analysis of the field allowed him to challenge himself and focus on other scoring options, resulting in a remarkable innings of 241 runs against a formidable bowling attack. Kohli would do well to emulate Tendulkar's discipline and strategic acumen in order to excel in similar challenging conditions.

"The biggest battle, is not with what's coming towards you from the bowler or the skill of the opposition, it's more about battle between your ears. So, not suggesting that Virat scrambled any sense, but maybe he's got to try and hone in on what Sachin Tendulkar did at the SCG. And say 'right he'd say, right, I'm not gonna go chase anything outside off stump. You come to me.' You just play the patience game," Gilchrist told Cricbuzz.

The Aussie legend has backed Kohli to get over the rough patch, as he said the Indian star has the mental strength to bounce back and find the solution to the chink in his armoury.

"He's got enough experience under his belt to know that he's mentally tough. He's carried the weight of expectation since U-19 level, entering the IPL and becoming the icon that is," Gilchrist said in the same interaction.

The Indian batting maestro slammed a century in the second innings at Perth to end a rough patch which he sustained during home Test season but then the pink-ball challenge turned out to be too much for him in Adelaide.

Gilchrist further said that it's an opportunity for Kohli to test himself in the middle mentally, which might also help him evolve in other ways.

"He should be able to say to himself, I'm going to do what's within my capacity to do the best thing for the team and if it's a long patient game, so be it. If you play long enough, you're probably gonna have to evolve in different ways and this might be an opportunity for Virat to do that," he added.