‘We’re scared to lose versus attack hard’, Michael Clarke questions Australia’s negative approach in Brisbane Test

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke made a strong statement over Australia’s defeat in the fourth and the final Test match against an under-strength Indian side. He criticized the ‘negative approach’ of the hosts, stating that the Aussie unit seemed scared of defeat rather than playing aggressively for victory.

An injury-stricken Indian side scripted history on Tuesday by beating Australia by three wickets in the Brisbane Test to win the series 2-1 and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“I thought we might have been a tad negative at certain stages throughout because we were scared to lose versus attack hard and look to win the game,” Clarke said on Big Sports Breakfast.

The former skipper, however, didn’t blame Tim Paine for the unthinkable Test series defeat at home. Under Paine’s captaincy, the Aussies have competed in 23 Tests and have managed to win only 11. Two Test series defeats at home against India make his record look worse.

Paine, who took over from Steve Smith in 2018 after the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa, is copping criticism for not only the 1-2 defeat but also for his sloppy work behind the stumps.

“At the end of the day, whether we lost with 20 overs left in the game or on the last ball of the game, it didn't matter. We had to win that game to win that trophy. I sort of feel we should have approached the first ball of that game to the last ball of that game with a bit more of that attitude,” Clarke said.

Clarke said there was a time when the buck stopped with the captain but it should not be the case anymore since there are other professionals, who call the shots in the Australian setup.

“When I played cricket when I grew up watching my father… the captain was accountable in the teams I played in. Through that transition of me captaining Australia, that changed. There had become a chairman of selectors that had more pull, there had become a high-performance manager that had more pull, there had become a head coach who had more pull. So now, who is driving the bus? This is my point,” he said.