Australia batting strategy has been immensely criticised after their twin defeats in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. The overuse of sweep shots led to a catastrophic collapse in the second Test as Australia went down from a position of putting up a challenging target to imploding in just 90 minutes, which subsequently resulted in the tourists conceding the trophy for the fourth successive time after India's unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.
So what can Steve Smith-led Australia change ahead of the third Test in Indore? While the task of a comeback looks improbable, a rather "optimistic" Mike Hussey wants the Aussies to emulate what India skipper Rohit Sharma has done so far in the series.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Hussey advised Australia batter to take a close look at how Rohit has batted through the series and how he has tackled the spinners. The India skipper has scored 183 runs in three innings, which includes a stunning 120 in the Nagpur opener.
“Obviously, the Australians can take a leaf out of Rohit Sharma’s book and have a look at the way he has batted so far,” Hussey said. “The way Rohit has gone about his job is certainly a good way to tackle spin and score runs in such conditions. The Indian batsmen have grown up playing on such pitches and so are more used to them. But it’s not really possible to bat exactly like how he (Rohit) has been doing. For instance, I couldn’t bat like Matthew Hayden.
{{/usCountry}}“Obviously, the Australians can take a leaf out of Rohit Sharma’s book and have a look at the way he has batted so far,” Hussey said. “The way Rohit has gone about his job is certainly a good way to tackle spin and score runs in such conditions. The Indian batsmen have grown up playing on such pitches and so are more used to them. But it’s not really possible to bat exactly like how he (Rohit) has been doing. For instance, I couldn’t bat like Matthew Hayden.
{{/usCountry}}“So the focus of the Australian batsmen should be on gauging how best each one of them can score runs. Each one has a different method of batting. So some should look to hit the boundaries and be more aggressive, while some should look to play the anchor role. Batsmen need to focus on their strengths and the strokes that yield them runs instead of everyone trying one particular shot,” Hussey explained, clearly referring to the sweep shot.
The former Australia batter was also in praise of Peter Handscomb's fighting knock of 72 not out in the series and admitted that the tourists do need some luck in such conditions.
“You also got to take into account that the ball kept really low in the previous Test (at the Kotla). Peter Handscomb did a fine job (72not out) in the first innings but couldn’t fire in the second. You do need some luck to succeed in such conditions,” Hussey added.