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'Sachin, Kohli and Rohit don't sweep properly...': Ex-India opener criticises Australia shot-selection in 2nd Test loss
A former India cricketer lashed out at the Australian batters for their poor shot-selection and the tendency to play just sweep shots against spinners in New Delhi.
Australia crashed to another defeat on Day 3 of the second Test match against India, losing by six wickets at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday. The result also extended India's lead to 2-0 in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with two more fixtures to be played.
Playing in his 100th Test match, Cheteshwar Pujara hit the winning runs on Day 3, to remain unbeaten on 31 off 74 balls. Meanwhile, KS Bharat was at the other end to remain unbeaten, scoring 23 runs off 22 balls.
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The hosts needed 115 runs to win the game, but lost opener KL Rahul early in the run chase, and then Pujara joined captain Rohit Sharma to add momentum. Rohit was eventually dismissed for 31, and then Pujara and Virat Kohli kept on adding runs. Kohli departed for 20 runs, reducing India to 69/3. After Kohli's departure, Shreyas Iyer also lost his wicket quickly before adding 12 runs.
Day 3 also saw Ravindra Jadeja destroy Australia with a seven-wicket haul. Ravichandran Ashwin also took three wickets and the visitors were bowled out for 113 in the second innings, resuming from their overnight score of 61/1. In the second innings, Australia had a poor batting display, with only Travis Head (43) and Marnus Labuschagne (35) making an impact. Many experts and former cricketers feel that Australia's strategy of playing sweep shots against Indian spinners backfired and they needed a better plan.
Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, former player Aakash Chopra also lashed out at the Aussie batters and pointed out that Indian players themselves never play sweep shots against spinners. "There is a way to play spin. When overseas teams come to India, they always plan to play only sweep shots. But if you look at Indian cricket's history in the last 20 years, so Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane don't know how to play sweep properly, except for Rohit Sharma, whose sweep is a little better and VVS Laxman never played the sweep shot at all, and he would still make runs. Even Virat Kohli doesn't play the sweep shot and he still keeps on making runs. When did you ever see Pujara play the sweep shot", he said.
"If you keep on playing the sweep shot, then sooner or later it is not about how you will get out, but rather when you will get out, now or later. That is what happened because if you just keep on playing the sweep shot. Sweep in English, if you remove S, then it is weep, which means crying", he further added.
The next Test match between both sides will be taking place on March 1, in Indore, followed by the final fixture from March 9 onwards, in Ahmedabad. India will be aiming to grab a win in the third Test and seal a series-clinching victory. Meanwhile, Pat Cummins and Co. will be hoping to stage a comeback in the upcoming game.
