The Australian batsmen have been under fire for their below-par performances in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. A victory in Adelaide kept them far from criticism up to some extent. However, they were exposed in Melbourne where India made a terrific comeback and beat them by 8 wickets.
The fall in Australia’s batting standards has miffed plenty of experts including former captain Ricky Ponting. He pointed out that the hosts didn’t show enough intent while batting against India in the Test series so far. While speaking on the ‘Unplayable Podcast’, the former skipper stated that the lack of drives and pull shots from the Aussies took a heavy toll on them.
“I can count on one hand in Two Test matches how many pull shots have been played, how many drives down the ground have you seen? You can’t tell me there haven’t been short balls bowled or fulls balls bowled. There have been enough,” said Ponting.
The former captain also took a dig at the Australian batters, stating that Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane played more pull shots than Australia have played in their four innings so far.
“We saw today, I know it was a small total and it is easier to go and play your shots, but Shubman Gill & Ajinkya Rahane played more good pull shots than I think Australia have played in the two Tests. For Indian batsmen to do that against our attack & for ours to not, it’ll be a cop-out to just say their bowlers were good,” Ponting further said.
The Australians have been too slow in scoring runs against India in the ongoing Test series. In the second innings of the Melbourne Test, the hosts batted for 102.3 overs and managed to post just 200 runs, at a run rate of fewer than 2 runs per over.
Moreover, this was the first time since 1988 that no Australian player scored a half-century in a home Test match.
With the series levelled 1-1, both teams will lock horns in the third Test which begins from January 7 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
