'What was I watching?': Clarke berates Cummins' 'irrelevant' tactic in 2nd Test, blasts Australia for 'major mistakes'

Clarke lashed out captain Pat Cummins' "irrelevant" tactic, was left befuddled at Australia's strategy of using the sweep shot against spinners and pointed out quite a few "major mistakes" made by the Australia management of late.

Two matches, two defeats, both under three days and Australia have already conceded the hope of winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. They were bowled out for scores of 177 and 91 in the Nagpur Test where they lost by an innings and 123 runs, and were bundled for 263 and 113 runs in New Delhi where their second innings had lasted for only 90 minutes. Former Australia captain Michael Clarke, who had made a memorable 150 in his debut Test in India, lashed out captain Pat Cummins' "irrelevant" tactic, was left befuddled at Australia's strategy of using the sweep shot against spinners and pointed out quite a few "major mistakes" made by the Australia management of late.

Michael Clarke; Pat Cummins

“We haven’t adapted to conditions,” Clarke said on Sky Sports Radio’s BSB. “I’m not saying don’t sweep in India, I’m saying the opposite. I’m saying you sweep at the right time, at the right stage of your innings, on the right pitch and, generally, with the spin. It’s very hard to sweep against the spin when the ball is not bouncing. So, basics of batting and facing spin bowling in those conditions we are getting so wrong.”

However, more the the use of sweep shot that concerned Clarke, it was the tactic deployed by Cummins during the final innings in New Delhi on Day 3 that left him stunned. He questioned the logic behind having four fielders in the boundary when they could have stationed near the batter, forcing a more aggressive set-up.

“I’ve got to say, I’m not sure what happened with our tactics either. We had 100 runs on the board, at one stage Pat Cummins had four blokes on the boundary,” he said. “You’re either bowling India out for under 100, or you’re losing. If you lose in 20 overs or you lose in two days, it’s irrelevant. So fielders get up, (put a) bat-pad off side, bat-pad leg side, slip. If the ball turns, if the ball bounces, if the ball shoots along the ground, if you make an error in judgment, you are getting out. That’s what Australia had to do. We had mid-off back, mid-on back, deep point, deep square-leg — what was I watching?”

The former Aussie batter however admitted that he wasn't a bit "surprised" at the present score line in the series given that Australia did not play a single tour match.

“We didn’t have a tour game. Major, major, major mistake. At least one tour game over there to get used to the conditions,” Clarke said. “Our selections for the first Test — major, major, major mistake. One cost us a chance, I reckon, of winning the T20 World Cup, and this 100 per cent cost us the first Test if not the second Test.”