Batting mentor helps Phillip Hughes overcome form slump

Opener Phillip Hughes' batting mentor Neil D'Costa is helping him rebuild from his poor performance during the New Zealand series by holding a secret two-hour session.

The session was held a day after Hughes withdrew from the Sydney Thunder's campaign in the Twenty20 Big Bash League to focus on arresting a troubling slump that seems likely to result in his dropping from the Australian side for the Boxing Day Test.

Far from insisting on a technical overhaul, D'Costa reminded the 23-year-old that he was not the first emerging star to plateau after entering the international stage with a bang, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

The batting coach, who also mentors Test captain Michael Clarke, used the examples of South Africa's J.P. Duminy, New Zealand captain Ross Taylor, and Indian World Cup winners Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina as players who have endured bumps in the road after highly acclaimed arrivals.

"I started training with him today. We spent a couple of hours together. Most of that was just chatting and me making sure that I'd ticked off things were in place with him off the field, that he was balanced and understood that this is part of his journey," D'Costa said.

"I talked to him about Duminy and I talked to him about Ross Taylor when they first came, and Virat Kohli. I explained to him that this is something that does happen - an initial burst is followed by a slump. But this guy has worked really hard. I'm extremely confident he'll come through a better player," he said.

Hughes will open for a Chairman's XI against India in a three-day match starting in Canberra on Monday but his immediate Test future appears decided after he was exposed by New Zealand veteran Chris Martin in making only 41 runs in four innings against the Kiwis.

If he is dropped for the first Test against India he will find himself playing grade cricket in Sydney next month.