As the ongoing Border-Gavaskar trophy continues to monopolise fans’ attention, one of the key talking points surrounding it is the chatter about India “doctoring” pitches. The controversy surrounding this accusation was relatively low during the action in Delhi, but resurfaced again as Indore hosted its first test match. Despite it gaining traction with a few ex-cricketers and Australia’s media, the Indian public certainly remain unconvinced. After all, their team has been playing a solid brand of cricket that has enabled them to extend their unbeaten streak at home to 10 games. Additionally, with two players currently over 200 in terms of runs and another close by, it is hard to believe they are benefiting from any sort of outside assistance. With tensions high going into the remainder of this series, only time will tell whether India can defend their unbeaten record or will bow down to unfair accusations.
As a former cricketer, Allan Border is familiar with the Australian style of cricket and it was no surprise when he expressed his dissatisfaction with skipper Steve Smith‘s gesture in the opening Test match. This critical comment is one of many as another former opening batsman Matthew Hayden also criticized the squad’s lacklustre performance. It seems that even after considerable success over the years, the Australia team requires some serious work to match up to their previous performance standards. One can only hope that this young side can look towards these past successes and take a few lessons from these experienced cricketers’ observations so they can put an impressive show in the ongoing series.
Sunil Gavaskar, a batting legend of India and one of the greatest batsmen of all time, recently made a statement about the present tour of Australia in India. Instead of layying the blame on Indian players for not securing a win so far against their opponents, he suggested that the Australian selectors should be questioned. He cited an example where Josh Hazlewood had to miss the first match due to an Achilles injury, yet has not played any further games. Similarly, Mitchell Starc who did make it in time for the third Test is yet to be featured in the series. This puts the evaluation skills of the selectors into question. Gavaskar feels that if proper personnel selection was done such mishaps could have been avoided and Australia might have put up more formidable performances on this tour so far.
It is clear that the Australian selectors have made a grave mistake in their selections for the Test series against India. Not only have they left themselves short by picking players who were unavailable for selection for half the series, but it also shows an astonishing lack of foresight when selecting their squad. What makes it all the more disappointing is that this lack of preparation has come from a team whose recent success and dominance was due, in no small part, to their meticulous planning and thoroughness. As ex-Australian players on various media platforms analyze and discuss how these errors could have been avoided, it is important to remember that the selectors are ultimately responsible, and direct criticism should be sent their way.
The recent decision by the Australian selectors to choose Matthew Kuhnemann for the ongoing Test series against India has caused some outrage from fans and pundits alike. It begs the question, if they weren’t sure about the already existing player on their roster, why was he ever chosen? For one of the top cricket teams in the world to be selecting its most elite Test squad from only twelve athletes is simply unacceptable. There is no doubt that a feat such as an impressive comeback in the next two Tests would usually bring glory, but if the selectors truly had any sense of responsibility, they should still resign even then. Sunil Gavaskar expressed his feelings quite eloquently with his column surrounding this topic.
Few Test series in recent memory have been as riveting and intense as the current one between two of cricket’s heavyweights India and Australia. Turning heads every step of the way, all three Tests of the series have finished before day four began, India coming out on top in the first two fixtures and Steve Smith leading Australia to a rousing nine-wicket victory in India’s backyard forcing the Blue Brigade to battle for their spot at the highly anticipated World Test Championship finale. With India needing a positive result from their fourth match in Ahmedabad, both teams will be keenly setting their sights on taking home the coveted championship trophy later this June in England.
