Danish Kaneria has said that if any Indian or Pakistani captain had gotten out the way Australia skipper Pat Cummins had gotten out in the second innings of the recent Delhi Test against India, then he would’ve been sacked immediately.
Cummins and co. had started day three of the Delhi Test at 61/1 and looked good to post a testing target for India on a pitch that was keeping low and turning as well. But Ravindra Jadeja with 7/42 and Ravichandran Ashwin with three scalps smashed the Australian batting lineup as they crumbled to 113 all out.
India then chased down the 115-run target with ease with Cheteshwar Pujara hitting the winning runs with remaining unbeaten on 31.
Questioning the Aussie skipper’s decision to play a slog sweep on the very first ball, Kaneria opined that Cummins should have batted more responsibly. He said that if an Indian or a Pakistani captain had gotten out in such a fashion, the team management would have asked him to return home.
“The Australian batters don’t know how to play in front of the stumps. They all got out trying to play the sweep shot. Being the captain, is this how Pat Cummins should have batted? He had a chat with Peter Handscomb as he walked out to bat. I think he was scared once he knew there was a lot of turn. If an Indian or Pakistani captain did this, he would be sent home the next day,” Kaneria said on his YouTube channel.
The right-handed batter perished while attempting to play a slog sweep off left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. He was undone by the low bounce and the ball ultimately crashed onto his stumps.
“This Defeat Will Make The Australian Team Cry”- Danish Kaneria
Kaneria stated that this defeat will hurt Australia a lot because at one time, they had India in trouble after scoring 263 in first innings and then reducing them to 66/4 and 125/5. But then Axar Patel’s 74 and his 119-run partnership with Ravi Ashwin enabled India to make 262 runs.
He criticized the Australian batters for their overdependence on the sweep shot and the reverse sweep, suggesting that they don’t have any other way to counter the Indian spinners. Kaneria praised India captain Rohit Sharma for giving long spells to Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
He said: “This defeat will make the Australian team cry. This won’t let them make a comeback. They had the upper hand over India at one stage. However, they didn’t know what was to be done when India fought back. The Australian batters had no answers against the Indian spinners. They didn’t know what to do and ended up blindly sweeping the ball.
Ravindra Jadeja was fantastic with the ball, and Ravichandran Ashwin also used his experience very nicely. Rohit Sharma did the right thing by giving them long spells. Australia’s scorecard looked like someone’s mobile number.”
Australia will aim to come back stronger in the third Test which will be played at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Wednesday, March 1.