Australia’s day three capitulation against India has been slammed from pillar to post by several greats, with Allan Border describing the performance as “panicky” while Mike Hussey believed the visitors “just gave it away” to the Indians.
The defeat in the second Test also meant India secured the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy, requiring just six days of cricket from a potential 10 to get the job done.
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The scathing reviews from Australia will no doubt continue to come between now and the third Test.
Rather unsurprisingly, the Indian media pulled no punches when describing the tourists’ day three disaster.
One of the more baffling aspects of Australia’s performance was using a sweep shot as the go-to stroke, a call that “wasn’t a good option” according to India skipper Rohit Sharma.
Former Indian wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta believed “nobody was talking to the Australian batters” and telling them that maybe the sweep shot wasn’t exactly the smartest thing to do.
“Just because Usman Khawaja got 80-odd sweeping on day one, it doesn’t mean it will work for you on day three,” Dasgupta said via the Press Trust of India.
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Former Indian skipper Dilip Vengsarkar was brutal in his analysis and believed the Aussies simply just aren’t good enough to play a sweep shot.
“The unfortunate part is, batting against spinners is an art, and Australians are not used to playing good quality spin,” Vengarskar told the PTI.
“Sweep could be an important part of your game plan but also the margin of error is very small.
“It is tough to have control over sweep, like the hook shot off pacers. Shockingly the footwork has been poor. The skill level is not there. I don’t see a lot of them stepping out and driving.”
Poor shot selection aside, the manner in which Australia capitulated was largely mocked by the Indian media.
The Times of India described the rapid loss of wickets was purely down to the visitors’ “messed up minds” that has now cost them dearly in both Test matches.
But the Hindustan Times’ Ashish Magotra went even further and called into question where the Aussies’ notoriously tough mentality had gone.
“India are unstoppable,” Magotra wrote.
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“But just how bad are Australia? As the visitors lost the Delhi Test inside three days, the image of the famed Australian fighting spirit stood shattered.
“This isn’t an Australian team that fights. Rather, this is a team that rolls over and lets the opposition breeze past.”
Magotra added: “You can’t call it a great collapse as there was nothing great about this, pitiful seems to be a far better fit.”
Matt Renshaw was also not spared in the vicious Indian reviews, having accrued four runs across three separate innings.
“Matt Renshaw doesn’t have the technique or wherewithal to guts it out on these Indian dustbowls and he has been a walking wicket for the home team,” the New Indian Express wrote.
With two Tests remaining for Australia to salvage some pride from their tour of India, coach Andrew McDonald must implore his troops to move on from the disaster in Delhi.
But should similar results await, the Indian media will be ready and waiting to rip into the tourists even more.
