Second Test reactions: 'They overthink things' - Former captains, Indian media, Vaughan pile on Aussies over terrible tactics

By The Roar / Editor

Former Test captains Michael Clarke and Ian Chappell have savaged Australia’s team selection and tactics in a dismal defeat at Delhi while the Indian media have been having a field day after the dramatic capitulation on day three.

The Australians tumbled to a six-wicket loss inside three days in the second Test in Delhi to trail 0-2 in the four-Test series.

Clarke and Chappell have added their voices to a chorus of criticism from past greats including Allan Border, blasting Australia for muddled team selection and bewildering tactics.

“I don’t think there was any justification for some of the things they’ve done; their selections smacked of panic,” Chappell told Nine’s Wide World of Sports.

“If you want to look at panic, the dropping of (Travis) Head, playing (Matt) Renshaw (in the first Test), saying he’s a good player of spin bowling – and you bat him in the middle order.

Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates taking the wicket of Steve Smith. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

“You come into the second Test with one quick only, you fly (Matt) Kuhnemann over from Australia and you play him ahead of (Ashton) Agar who bowls the same sort of stuff and was in the original squad.

“Now, are you going to tell me they’re not panic selections? This is the problem … they overthink things.”

Clarke said Australia’s problems could be traced to not playing a tour game to acclimatise to Indian conditions.

“Major, major, major mistake,” Clarke told Big Sports Breakfast. “There should have been at least one game over there to get used to the conditions.”

Clarke slammed captain Pat Cummins for his tactics in the Delhi debacle as India chased 115 runs to win.

“I’m not sure what happened with our tactics,” Clarke said. “At one stage, Patty Cummins had four blokes on the boundary. There’s two-and-a-half days left in the Test match; you’re either bowling India out for under 100 or you’re losing – one or the other.

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“If you lose in 20 overs, or you lose in two days, it’s irrelevant.

“I know it’s only a tiny run lead but we had to still try and win the game – and we had mid-off back, mid-on back, deep point, deep square leg. What was I watching?”

Criticism was also levelled at Australia’s shot selection through their second innings collapse of 9-48, when a succession of batsmen fell attempting sweeps.

“You’re playing for Australia. Surely, as a batsman playing at the highest level, you calculate that risk versus reward,” Clarke said.

Matt Kuhnemann of Australia is bowled by Ravindra Jadeja of India. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

“Against spin bowling on a pitch like that, you would say my ‘swim between the flags’ is play straight, hit with the spin. It’s like we’re not watching India bat. Why would you not look at that example and go, ‘OK, these guys know the conditions so well and this is how they’re playing’.

“Why would we try and do something different when they have been so good?”

The last skipper to win a series in India, former keeper Adam Gilchrist who stood in for an injured Ricky Ponting in 2004, was perplexed by the decision to include Agar in the touring party but not select him in the Tests.

“There’s been murmurings that he might be on a flight home because he might feel like he’s surplus to requirements over there and I can understand why, without being in the camp and knowing the finer details of why he wasn’t picked,” he told SEN WA Mornings.

“But it’s a pretty big insult that I know from touring and being on a lot of tours, you felt that if you’re picked on the tour in a broader squad – unless it’s a pretty extreme like for like that has to come in – you generally expected the guys that were first reserves to step in.

“I haven’t spoken to him. It’ll be interesting to see what he does, whether he’s brought into contention.”

Another Australian cricket legend, Ian Healy, was also bemused by the lack of a warm-up game in India.

Pat Cummins leads his team off the ground after they were defeated by India on day three of the Second Test at Delhi. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

“Never again tell me we’re not playing a tour match to begin, at least two, there’s no shortcuts to Test match success,” he said on SEN Radio.

“There are players that played T20 or didn’t play for a month – Cummins was one of those, Nathan Lyon was one of those and he shook it off this match, he wasn’t ready in the first Test.”

Meanwhile, the Indian media has taken great delight in exposing Australia’s flawed approach, particularly their reliance on the sweep shot six batters departing after trying to play the high-risk stroke.

“Once Steve Smith fell sweeping to Ashwin and Labuschagne was bowled playing back to a good length delivery from Jadeja that kept low, the rest of the Australian batters looked like they were lost in a haunted house. It was obvious Australia didn’t have a Plan B,” according to The Times of India.

“Jadeja and Ashwin, ever ready to pounce on their prey in home conditions, were not going to relent without devouring the sitting ducks.”

Over at The Hindustan Times, the Aussie performance was described as inept.

“No one expected batting to be easy but in being dismissed for 113 (31.1 overs), they earned the stamp of ineptness that is usually very hard to acquire.”

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra said constantly sweeping is bound to end in tears.

“If you keep on playing the sweep shot, then sooner or later it is not about how you will get out, but rather when you will get out, now or later. That is what happened because if you just keep on playing the sweep shot. Sweep in English, if you remove S, then it is weep, which means crying”, he said on ESPNcricinfo.

And it wouldn’t be an Australian loss without former England captain Michael Vaughan having a dig on Twitter.

“Waking up to see a proper collapse by the Aussies .. many teams have done the same in India .. it’s not easy .. but let’s be honest the Aussies once Warner & Smith retire have very little waiting in the wings ..”

The Crowd Says:

2023-02-21T06:17:16+00:00

Nobody likes a smarta*s

Roar Rookie


It is the way he has handled things on and off the field that is the problem, not the results of the games

2023-02-21T05:05:15+00:00

Angus

Roar Rookie


You aren’t wrong.

2023-02-21T04:34:32+00:00

Dean

Guest


They have played and won one test against India in the past year.

2023-02-21T03:41:23+00:00

Rob

Guest


I'm not convinced that England deserve to be rated in a similar bracket to India and Australia just yet. They seem to be a better side than they were a few years ago but they are yet to be tested against India or Australia. The upcoming Ashes series should be a cracker.

2023-02-21T02:24:02+00:00

JohnB

Roar Rookie


I'd disagree that a match against team mates/other first class cricketers on a pitch you can control is of less value than a tour game, which may be on a pitch which is of no relevance to upcoming test pitches, and where the opposition team may be full of fringe first class and academy type players.

2023-02-21T02:10:11+00:00

Ben Pobjie

Expert


Cummins has a 4-0 whitewash in the Ashes, so I think we should definitely listen to him.

2023-02-21T02:07:17+00:00

Ben Pobjie

Expert


I don't think it's the tactics per se, it's more the inability to adapt on the go. Like Cummins having fielders out: before the series started those kinds of field placings were probably discussed, and pretty wisely, because generally in India you want to prevent lots of boundaries and it can be a mistake to attack too hard. But in different game situations you have to be able to change as circumstances dictate: when defending 115 there's just no point not attacking as hard as possible, because you don't have the time to be patient. You need to switch it up mid-stream. Batting tactics similarly. Probably in the first test the batters could've benefited from sweeping more. So they go into the second test saying let's sweep more. But then when they get out there they should have seen that the pitch was not the same, and basing your game on sweeping wasn't going to work. You have to be able to not only formulate a plan before the game starts, but be able to formulate new ones when the match throws up unexpected developments. And that applies both individually and on a team level. Frankly I don't really agree with much of the complaining about selection. Apart from keeping Warner and bringing Swepson even though he was very unlikely to ever play, I don't think the selection's been as bad as it's made out. Certainly in the second test I think the bowling selections were right, and were proven to be right. It wasn't the bowlers' fault that test was lost, the three spinners did well.

2023-02-21T01:18:11+00:00

GP

Guest


I think if they played in a hypothetical ground where the pitch offered an even amount for swing, bounce, spin and degraded slowly at first and then rapidly at the end, and in neutral air conditions of about 25-26 degrees...I think India would be on top, closely followed by England and Australia. It's a big gap after that. Australia will always struggle on any pitch that offers even a hint of movement. Our pitches need to change. They have got to stop preparing 5 day roads and start putting in some decks with a bit of movement.

2023-02-21T00:48:35+00:00

Rob

Guest


A lot of former test captains have plenty ideas for Cummins and his team. It seems they have forgotten just how tough it is to play in India.

2023-02-21T00:43:47+00:00

Rob

Guest


They've done well to score runs against Zimbabwe considering these guys have never played them in a test match. This team is far from the weakest we've seen in 25 years. Australia and India are clearly the best two teams in the world in test cricket and it's not even close.

2023-02-20T19:51:20+00:00

Truth rocks

Guest


You've got lots of faith in those boys The only teams they seem to get runs against are Zimbabwe, hopeless windies and the south Africans This is the weakest Aussie team in 25 years, without a doubt

2023-02-20T15:21:50+00:00

Nobody likes a smarta*s

Roar Rookie


In this series, I think that Cummins has shown that he is not up to it when the going gets tough, and former test captains have a similar view, it seems from reading this article. I reckon they have to replace him with Smith asap. That might extend Smith’s career to. We sure need him as Warner looks like going soon, if he has not already gone.

2023-02-20T14:39:46+00:00

GP

Guest


There's more to tour matches than the wicket. There is weather, there is the routine, and most importantly for the bowlers, the opportunity to get 20-25 of good match practice into the arm. The nets are just never the same. And nor is playing against your own team mates

2023-02-20T14:38:08+00:00

GP

Guest


Vaughan is watching a different David Warner. The rest of us are watching a walking wicket that is an absolute liability in the XI.

2023-02-20T11:52:40+00:00

Johnb

Guest


It's interesting that people seem to think that India would have provided a pitch for a pre Test tour game that bore any relationship to the Test pitches. Criticise a lack of preparation by all means, and they should have played at least one 3 or 4 day game on a scuffed up pitch before going to India (and not had half the squad playing T20). On the other hand, not wasting time on a tour game on a road or a green top was a fair call.

2023-02-20T11:35:05+00:00

GP

Guest


I'd listen to Gilchrist. He won there. He knows what he's talking about. Clarke was humiliated in India

2023-02-20T11:34:05+00:00

GP

Guest


No, he wasn't. It's why teams routinely beat him. Putting in a fly slip for a spinner isn't innovative, it's stupid. Declaring on the first innings and then losing by an innings isn't tactical genius either.

2023-02-20T10:44:05+00:00

Tanmoy Kar

Guest


The Australians tried to play Bazz-ball cricket like England, but failed miserably.

2023-02-20T09:24:59+00:00

jammel

Roar Rookie


Respect Michael Vaughan immensely - usually. But I don't agree there's not a lot of batting after Smithie/Davey retire. Marnus + Head + Green + all the young guys will be fine! (in Australia lol) Otherwise, I think the likes of Chopra have got it right again!

2023-02-20T09:18:10+00:00

Loosey

Roar Rookie


So important to get the view point of the Indian media. Nothing like a good pile-on! No tour games first up? Seems like a pretty basic cock-up right there......

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