After losing the first Test match against India by an innings and 132 runs, Australia crashed to another defeat in the second Test, losing by six wickets on Day 3 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, on Sunday. With India leading 2-0 in the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy, many former players and experts blamed Australia's usage of the reverse sweep shot against Indian spinners as the primary reason for their batting collapse in New Delhi.
Ravindra Jadeja did the bulk of the damage in the second innings as Australia were bowled out for 113, with the spinner taking a seven-wicket haul in 12.1 overs. Meanwhile, Ravinchandran Ashwin also bagged three wickets. It was a similar outing for both spinners, having dominated in the first Test match too.
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Former Ausstralia cricketer Michael Hussey had a different take on his side's batting collapse and blamed T20 cricket. Speaking on Fox Cricket, Hussey was asked if the reverse sweep shots played by his country's batters were due to cricketers playing a lot of T20 cricket. In particular, no. 11 Matthew Kuhnemann played a fancy reverse sweep to get dismissed by Jadeja for a two-ball duck during the second innings.
"Yes, probably. I mean we are seeing it a lot more in those short form games. We are seeing ramps and all kinds of different shots, which we would never have seen, 10-15 years ago. You know, that's a fair comment", Hussey said.
{{/usCountry}}"Yes, probably. I mean we are seeing it a lot more in those short form games. We are seeing ramps and all kinds of different shots, which we would never have seen, 10-15 years ago. You know, that's a fair comment", Hussey said.
{{/usCountry}}"It's about when you choose. It is a good shot to have in your armory, but it is about playing it at the right time against the right type of bowler in the right conditions and I don't think they got that right", he further added.
Aiming to stage a comeback, Australia travel to Indore for the third Test match, beginning from March 1. Meanwhile, the fourth and final Test is scheduled to start from March 9, in Ahmedabad.