IND vs AUS: India are playing timidly, lacking aggressive approach, says Michael Vaughan
Team India finally had a sigh of relief on Wednesday as they defeated Australia by 13 runs in the third and the final ODI in Canberra. They may have had managed to return on the winning ways but the struggle of the top batting-order remains the biggest concern for the men-in-blue.
An astonishing 150-run partnership between Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja took the visitors to a 302-run total. The duo garnered all the praises for their stellar batting show but the top-order batters, except captain Virat Kohli, found themselves at the receiving end.
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An ineffective start made them look apprehensive against the Aussies. It also made former England captain Michael Vaughan feel that India are carrying a ‘timid mindset’ which is barring them from playing aggressive cricket.
‘We saw an incredible partnership between Pandya and Jadeja but beyond that is not great deal but I was just wondering back of the mind that they are playing timidly and is getting them into a situation,” said Vaughan on Cricbuzz.
The former English skipper stated that the Indian players have got the skill to go aggressive on the field. All they need is the freedom to do so.
“I just think it’s freedom and culture around dressing room which allows them to do that (play aggressively) and I think, India have the talent in their batsmen and playing with that approach because they’ve got the skill, they’ve got the time, they’ve got the gift. I just wonder if in that culture, in the Indian dressing room, I just wonder it’s a little bit old school. I just wonder it’s a little bit back the innings when we play consistently. They’ve got enough talent to go out for it a little bit early and a bit harder,” said Michael Vaughan.
Agreeing to Vaughan’s opinion, former Indian World Cup-winning pacer Zaheer Khan stated that the Indian think tank needs to step up and structure the brand of cricket the team wants to play in against an opponent like Australia.
“It’s all about what brand of cricket you want to play? How you going to structure your innings. All those discussions are important when the skeleton needs to be formed. When you look at this team when someone like Rohit Sharma is out, you tend to feel that the winning formula is not defined for any other individual to fill in that particular role,” said Zaheer Khan.
“A conscious effort has to be made by the think tank and the team management to have a set and defined brand of cricket which the team wants to play,” he added.
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