The former-wicket batter of Australia, Adam Gilchrist, who is a renowned commentator on Fox Cricket, has slammed the wrong tactical decisions of the Australian side during the second innings of the opening Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth during the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25.
There was not much discussion going on for Australia, despite them trying to find their debutant opening batter in the form of Nathan McSweeney, as they struggled to find the partner of the left-handed Usman Khawaja.
The bowling department of the side, led by captain Pat Cummins, the left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and their premier off-spinner of the side, Nathan Lyon, was already set and decorated with so much clash, with their batting being shouldered on the two veterans Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne.
Having put into bowl first, Australia did a great job on the spicy track against the fragile and underperformed batting line-up of the Indian side, as they bundled out them for 150 runs in the first innings. With hard work from the pacers, they perhaps hoped to see their batters going out, helping them to put up their feet for a day or so.
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But, the poor batting performance of the home side found them gifting a 46-run lead to the tourists. The fast bowlers were asked to strap their shoes and bowl on the second session of the second day’s play, and by then, the pitch had flatted out, while the two openers of India, KL Rahul, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, showed great patience in the middle to see the day off without any damage.
Adam Gilchrist slams the wrong tactics of Australia during the Perth Test
The 201-run opening stand of the Blue Brigade kept on making the Australian side frustrated for the entire third day. Most of the balls were smelling the edge of the blade, but they hardly found the result they wanted to have in their favor.
The top-notch bowling unit appeared to be crumbled, as the captain of the side, Pat Cummins, offered the ball to Marnus Labuschagne and later on to the spin all-rounder of Travis Head. But nothing worked for the team.
The former wicket-keeper batter of Australia, Adam Gilchrist, criticized the peculiar style of bowling down the leg stump towards the end of the batting innings of the Indian side when Virat Kohli and Nitish Kumar Reddy decided to nail the big shots in an order to earn some quick runs at the end.
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Gilchrist remarked on the excessive defensive and farce tactics of the Australian side, a typical bold approach from the team as the veteran believed. The minimal acts may have been deemed to have crossed the cricketing laws, which raised ethical considerations.
The fans of the Australian side, along with their former players and their social media members, were not satisfied with how their players showed their abilities in the game. Most of them felt that the bowling and strategies were poor as they slammed the bouncers bowled by Labuschagne. That highlights the extent of the challenge Australia must overcome and look to regain its form.