Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke has criticized the Australian team following a heavy defeat in the second Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Delhi. The Australian team was hammered within 3 days by India. Australian batters found no clue to India spinning duo Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. With this win, India will retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Speaking on Sky Sports Radio BSB, Michael Clarke said that the Australian batter didn’t use a sweep to a good effect and added that the sweep should be used on a pitch where there is reasonable bounce, the Delhi pitch had a very low bounce, and it very difficult to use sweep shot
“I’m not saying don’t sweep in India, I’m saying the opposite. I’m saying you sweep at the right time, at the right stage of your innings, on the right pitch, and, generally, with the spin. It’s very hard to sweep against the spin when the ball is not bouncing. So, basics of batting and facing spin bowling in those conditions we are getting so wrong,” Clarke Said
The majority of Australian batters including Usman Khawaja, Matt Renshaw, Steve Smith, and Australian skipper Pat Cummins got out while trying to sweep the ball. Matthew Hayden and Dinesh Karthik also criticized Australia’s batting approach in the second innings.
“What Was I Watching?” – Michael Clarke Fumes Over Pat Cummins Captaincy
Michael Clarke made it clear that he was not impressed with some of the calls made by captain Pat Cummins in the 2nd innings of the second. The former cricketer-turned-commentator stated that he was unhappy with the tactics by Cummins placing the fielders in the boundary when they have a low total to defend.
“I’ve got to say, I’m not sure what happened with our tactics either. We had 100 runs on the board, at one stage Pat Cummins had four blokes on the boundary,” he said.
Clarke continued that when we have low to defend, Australian Skipper should have set an attacking field set to pick up wickets. He was surprised by Australia Strategy in the field
“We had mid-off back, mid-on back, deep point, deep square leg — what was I watching?,” Clarke further added
The former Australia batter also advised Pat Cummins & Co to play with the straight bat in the Indore Test. The 3rd test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy will take place in Indore on March 1.