Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke has lambasted the Pat Cummins-led team following a heavy defeat in the second Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Delhi. India hammered Australia inside three days for the second time in a fortnight to retain the trophy and are on the verge of qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June.
Speaking on Big Sports Breakfast, the former cricketer said, “I’m not surprised by what I’m seeing because we didn’t have a tour game. Major, major, major mistake. There should have been at least one game over there to get used to the conditions.”
Pointing out loopholes in the Australians’ batting technique against spin, he said, “Selection for the first Test, major, major mistake. Second Test, blokes sweeping, we saw enough of that the first Test match. They’re not the right conditions to sweep when you start your innings. And they’re never going to be the right conditions to reverse sweep against the spin at the start of your innings.”
“Against spin bowling on a pitch like that, you would say my ‘swim between the flags’ is play straight, hit with spin. Let’s just stick to those two theories. Straight bat … I’m going to be playing every single ball with the spin,” he further added.
What followed was 90 minutes of madness in which Australia imploded and they were bowled out for 113 half an hour before lunch. Only Head and Marnus Labuschagne (35) managed double digits as the Australian batters capitulated to the guile of India’s spinners. Some, like Steve Smith and Alex Carey, tried to sweep their way out of the trouble only to fall lbw or bowled.
