Rakesh kumar
Regarding the field at the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, there has been considerable outside discussion. Prior to the start of the series, a number of Australian media outlets and former cricketers accused India of “doctoring” the Nagpur track. During the Delhi Test, discussions regarding India’s ability to produce world-class spinners were comparatively subdued, but as the action shifted to Indore, the topic reemerged as a focal point.
Aside from the field, the former cricketers have frequently expressed harsh criticism of the current team. One of the numerous incidents involved the Australian legend Allan Border lashing out at Steve Smith, who innocently gave the bowler a thumbs-up after a delivery beat his outside edge. Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden had also criticised the team for their disappointing performance in the series opener.
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Sunil Gavaskar, however, believes that rather than pointing fingers at the players, the ex-cricketers should question the Australian selectors. Josh Hazlewood, who was ruled out of the first Test due to an Achilles injury, was cited by Gavaskar as an illustration of the shortcomings of the selectors. He also presented Mitchell Starc’s case. While Starc was included in the playing XI for the third match in Indore, Hazlewood has yet to appear in the series.
While ex-Australian players on various media platforms are criticising their current teammates, the true targets should be the Australian selectors. How could they select three players (Hazlewood, Starc, and Cameron Green) who would be unavailable for the first two Test matches? That is, the team management had only 13 players to choose from for the first half of the series.
“Then they bring in a new player (Matthew Kuhnemann) when they already had a similar player. Why did they select him in the first place if they didn’t believe he was competent enough? That meant the squad management was selecting 11 players from a pool of 12. Ridiculous. Gavaskar wrote in his column for Sportstar that the selectors should resign if they have any sense of responsibility, even if Australia makes a remarkable comeback and wins the next two Tests to level the series.
Returning to the series, each of the three Tests played thus far have been completed within three days. Australia made a stunning revival under stand-in captain Steve Smith and won the third Test by nine wickets. India won the first two by a wide margin. Australia’s victory also earned them a spot in the World Test Championship final, which will be contested at The Oval in June. India, on the other hand, will be hoping for a win in the final match in Ahmedabad; if they are successful, they will join Australia in the final.
