Brett Lee urges Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to take a break from cricket as India faces tough times: 'Word on the streets...'

Lee believes that a significant factor in India's batting collapse was their unconventional approach of trying to dominate the New Zealand bowlers. Unfortunately, this strategy did not work out as planned, leading to Kohli, Rohit, and the rest of the batters causing more harm than good. Kohli had difficulties facing spin bowling, while Rohit struggled to deal with the new ball and frequently fell victim to fast bowlers during the series. It raises the question of whether these issues stem from technical flaws or a flawed mindset.

"The word on the streets has been India 3-0. But while I predicted 3-0, it was not the other way. What has happened? There's been a lot of conjecture around the batting for India. The way they collapsed against spin, losing 37 wickets. Mitchell Santner was on fire. I think India were trying to dominate a little too much, playing shots that were out of their normal style of cricket," Lee said on his YouTube channel.

"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."

Although Lee wants the duo to take time off, it's unsure how much of it is feasible, given Kohli has already landed in Australia. There is still no clarity on Rohit's availability for the first Test, but with him not travelling with the team, the India captain is all but confirmed to miss the series opener. theless, Lee is confident that starting off with a fresh mind and no baggage will bring the best out of Kohli and Rohit at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

"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 ex-Aussie quick pointed out.