The overuse of the sweep has worsened matters for the Australian batsmen in the ongoing series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with India enjoying an unbeatable 2-0 lead. Even Steve Smith, who hit three centuries the last time Australia toured India back in 2017 — including a second-innings ton on a minefield of a track in Pune — has looked out of sorts in the first two Tests, in Nagpur and New Delhi.

So how can Smith and his batting colleagues sort things out? The conditions in the remaining two Tests, in Indore and Ahmedabad, are unlikely to be too different.

“Obviously, the Australians can take a leaf out of Rohit Sharma’s book and have a look at the way he has batted so far,” prescribed former distinguished Australia batsman Mike Hussey, during an interaction with The Telegraph on Thursday.

Rohit has appeared to be the most confident and sorted, especially among the top-order batsmen of both teams, in the first two Tests. At the top on the run-getters’ list (183 runs) and averaging 61, the India captain scored a vital 120 in the opening game in Nagpur.

“The way Rohit has gone about his job is certainly a good way to tackle spin and score runs in such conditions. The Indian batsmen have grown up playing on such pitches and so are more used to them. But it’s not really possible to bat exactly like how he (Rohit) has been doing. For instance, I couldn’t bat like Matthew Hayden.

“So the focus of the Australian batsmen should be on gauging how best each one of them can score runs. Each one has a different method of batting. So some should look to hit the boundaries and be more aggressive, while some should look to play the anchor role. Batsmen need to focus on their strengths and the strokes that yield them runs instead of everyone trying one particular shot,” Hussey explained, clearly referring to the sweep shot.

‘Mr Cricket’, as Hussey used to be affectionately called, prefers not to be too harsh though. “You also got to take into account that the ball kept really low in the previous Test (at the Kotla). Peter Handscomb did a fine job (72not out) in the first innings but couldn’t fire in the second. You do need some luck to succeed in such conditions,” Hussey, who averaged 44.81 in six Test appearances in India, stated.

Given the current team morale, is there any possibility of a turn around from Pat Cummins and Co.? Hussey is“still optimistic”.