First Published Feb 28, 2023, 6:00 PM IST
Former captain Michael Clarke has severely criticized the Australian team’s attitude and performance while the Australian team, which has lost the first two matches of the Test series against India, is criticizing the Indian pitches.
With the Indian team leading the series 2-0 after winning the first two matches of the 4-Test series between India and Australia, the Australian team’s dream of winning the Test series in India after 2004 has been dashed. For now, the Australian team has reached a crisis point where it is enough to return to the country without being whitewashed.
At the end of the first innings of the 2nd Test, the Australian team, who started the 2nd innings well with a one-run lead, had a good chance of winning if India set a challenging target in the last innings after posting a good score. But they lost 9 wickets in one session and threw dust on their heads. While the sweep shot is the best weapon against spin, it is often overused and the Aussies are out.
The Australian media and former Australian players have criticized the Indian pitches for being prepared for spin and for the strength of the Indian team, while the Australian team suffered heavy defeats.
In this case, former Australian captain Michael Clarke has said that it is not right to criticize the Indian pitches after the Australian team has made all the mistakes.
Speaking about this, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden and Mark Waugh are in India to comment on the series. Both of them have a lot of experience playing in India. Matthew Hayden is a good sweep shot. So the Australian team should have sought the help of Hayden and Mark Waugh to train the players in the nets. Have them by your side in every training session, get advice and practice. A spin sweep shot is good. But don’t sweep every ball. The sweep and reverse sweep shot should be played after the field has settled and scored 80 runs. It should not be played when there are 8 runs. Why didn’t the team management use Hayden and Mark?
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I know very well what Indian pitches are like. Indian team is very smart. They prepared the pitch they needed in home conditions. It should not be blamed. When the other teams come to Australia and play the first Test in Brisbane, we want to use the pace and bounce to our advantage and use it to our advantage to beat the opposition and start with a win. Similarly other teams will use home condition. Michael Clarke opined that to face spinners like Ashwin and Jadeja in Indian conditions, it is right to prepare well with intensive training.