Former India's star batter Mohammad Kaif has an advice for Rohit Sharma's brigade ahead of third Test against Australia in Brisbane. Kaif wants India to adopt the same strategy what Australia have been using against Virat Kohli in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. The former feels India should use the same strategy against Travis Head, who took the game away from visitors with his spellbinding century in Adelaide Test, which Australia ended up winning by 10 wickets. India's batting juggernaut Virat Kohli's recent form in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been underwhelming, with the exception of a century in Perth. The 36-year-old's miserably failed in the Adelaide Test as he could muster only 18 runs combining both the innings.
In the Adelaide Test, Kohli's scores of 7 and 11 highlighted the Indian team's batting woes against the Australian bowling attack of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Scott Boland. Kohli's tendency to play outside the off-stump has often been exploited by bowlers, and Boland capitalised on this weakness to dismiss him in the second innings.
Meanwhile, Travis Head has proved to be the biggest nemesis for India across all formats. His impressive century in Adelaide played a crucial role in Australia's dominance. Now Kaif has suggested that India should target Head's weakness of playing outside the off-stump to gain an advantage in the rest of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
"When Boland, someone who doesn't play consistently, knows how to exploit this, why can't we trap Travis Head? If his weakness is outside the off-stump, why don’t we consistently bowl there? Every batsman has weaknesses," Kaif said in a video uploaded on his X account.
Kaif further urged Indian bowlers should adopt the same strategy employed by the Australian bowlers to exploit Kohli's weakness. By targeting Head's tendency to play outside the off-stump, the Indian bowlers can potentially disrupt his rhythm and dismiss him cheaply.
"Virat Kohli ki kamzori log pakad ke rakhe hue hai, off-stump ke bahar ball daalo, wo waha out honge. You'll need to adopt the same strategy against Travis Head as well. You need to move ahead with proper planning. You need to attack him from the first ball; you need to make a fixed plan to exploit his weakness, and then you can get him out," Kaif concluded.
