Published 15:01 IST, February 20th 2023
Former Australian players slam Pat Cummins and Co. poor display vs India; 'It's a disaster
Former Australian cricketers have lashed out at the Pat Cummins-led Aussie Test squad for their disappointing show so far against India in the Test series.
Team India took a 2-0 lead in the Border- Gavaskar Trophy 2023 on Sunday, as Rohit Sharma’s side thumped Australia by six wickets in the Delhi Test. The second Test match suffered a similar fate to the series opener, where the Indian side won by an innings and 132 runs. Australia’s horrors on spinning tracks were exposed to the world, with the team getting out on scores of 91 and 113 runs in their second batting innings in both matches.
Australia’s poor show so far in the series became a major talking point for the cricketing world and also received criticism from former Aussie cricketers. Speaking about Australia’s 114-run target to India in the 4th innings of the second Test on Fox Sports, Australian cricket legend Allan Border said, “I’m disappointed, I’m shell-shocked, I’m angry about the way we went about our work today”.
Border highlighted how the Pat Cummins-led team failed to play good defensive cricket and hot out playing sweeps and reverse sweeps. “You just can’t get away with that on this sort of track. You’ve got to have a method where you play within your limitations. You’re not playing on a flat belter where you can expand your game,” he explained. Border suggested the team work out their scoring options and spend time at the crease.
"What we’ve seen here is a disaster for Australia"
Meanwhile, former Australian cricketer Mike Hussey shed light on Cummins’ shot selection and said, “That’s just a horrible shot from the captain. He’s thought ‘I’m just going to get a quick 30’ to change the momentum of the game and get our lead up as much as we could.” At the same time, Aussie batting great Matthew Hayden also mentioned that the visitors were far too aggressive with the use of the sweep shot in the Delhi Test.
Speaking on the commentary during Star Sports’ live broadcast of the game, Hayden said, “I can’t believe what I’ve just witnessed here”. “(They’ve gone) way too far. These are world-class players and they have everything to win and everything to lose in this session. They did it so well last evening. What we’ve seen here is a disaster for Australia. It’s a disaster because they’ve gone way over the edge in terms of their aggressive play,” added Hayden.
Former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist also came hard on Australia's performance and their team selection. He questioned that what was Aston Agar not included in the team.
“There’s been murmurings that (Agar) might be on a flight home because he might feel like he’s surplus to requirements over there and I can understand why, without being in the camp and knowing the finer details of why he wasn’t picked,” Gilchrist told to SEN WA Mornings.
“But it’s a pretty big insult that I know from touring and being on a lot of tours, you felt that if you’re picked on the tour in a broader squad, unless it’s a pretty extreme like for like that has to come in and you generally expected the guys that were first reserves to step in.
“So that’s a bit of a body blow for him I would imagine. I haven’t spoken to him … it’ll be interesting to see what he does, whether he’s brought into contention or not," Adam Gilchrist was quoted saying.
Updated 15:01 IST, February 20th 2023