Expressing his utter shock on India’s humiliating 333-run defeat at the hands of Australia in Pune, Former Aussie skipper Kim Hughes has urged the hosts to prepare a sporting pitch in the remaining matches.
Steve Smith’s men thoroughly outplayed their much-fancied opponents on a rank turner but Hughes feels that the hosts would bounce back strongly after the Pune mauling.
The world number one side was dismissed for 105 and 107 in both the innings as the Aussies went on to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
Speaking to The Times of India, Hughes said: “If someone had told me we are going to dismiss India for 100-odd in both innings and win by 333 runs, I would have told him -what have you been smoking? Australia will enjoy this victory but would understand that India would come hard at them. I don’t think India were complacent at all. It’s just that they had a bad game.”
Commenting over the Pune pitch, the former player said:“The wicket (in Pune) was a shocker. If you see, pitches against England were good cricket wickets, but if you try to doctor the tracks, it can bite you on your bum. I am sure the one in Bengaluru will be a sporting one.”
Hughes was also critical of India’s dismal fielding. The Indian fielders dropped as many as four catches in the second innings, three of them of Steve Smith alone, on scores of 23, 29 and 37 as he went on to score a match-winning century.
“India are a good fielding unit, but in this game, it was very poor. I believe catching is all about confidence and when they dropped so many, they lost it. You can’t give a player of Smith’s quality four chances. The last time he would have been given this many was when he was probably four years old,” Hughes said.
Speaking of India’s poor use of the DRS, he said:“India was done with their two reviews very early (in the second innings). The second referral – where the batsman ought to have known whether he hit it or not – was just bad cricket. You need to use your referrals smartly,” Hughes pointed out. With the pre-series talk centred primarily on spin, Hughes was pleased with the way the pacers from both the teams stood out. “While Steve O’Keefe was the man of the moment, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood too bowled splendidly for Australia. Starc’s ball to dismiss Cheteshwar Pujara was just brilliant. For India, Umesh (Yadav) was the standout bowler as he bowled a superb line and was disciplined.”