Australian coach Darren Lehmann has called for an ‘improved effort from his batsmen’ following their 221-run defeat against Pakistan in Dubai.
Lehmann quoted:
“We didn’t play the way we needed to play in those conditions, didn’t adjust well enough. We need to be sharper and understand that a lot of the wickets came from spin, so maybe we are trying to play for the things that aren’t there.”
Lehmann was very much sceptical about his batsmen missing the straight ball in the expectation that they would turn.
He said,”You would think it would spin more. We missed a lot of straight balls, five or six dismissals throughout the game. We need to get better at actually hitting the straight ball, watching the ball for a start.”
Now that Australia has to win the last match to level the series, I think that they should shuffle their batting lineup in order to score big. I feel that Steven Smith should bat at number 3 as he has been the best batsmen of Australia on this tour. He has played the spinners well and his addition at number 3 will be a great tactical move as he’ll be able to hold the innings together like he did in ODI series. When Australia is in such a situation, Michael Clarke always rises to the occasion. I expect him to score big in this match and take Australia to a huge total. I would also like to see Brad Haddin at number 6 in this match. As a senior batsmen, he should come up the order and shoulder the responsibility of supporting Smith and Clarke by playing his natural game.
If Australia makes these changes in their batting, then I think that the philosophy of ‘bat once, bat big and win the match‘ will prove right in the next match.
My playing 11 for them would be:
1. Warner 2. Rogers 3. Smith 4. Clarke 5. Doolan 6. Haddin 7. Marsh 8. Johnson 9. Siddle 10. Lyon 11. O’Keefe