India v Australia: Allan Border, Mark Waugh lead calls for change after heavy first Test defeat
Two of Australia’s all-time greats have demanded a huge team overhaul for the second Test after Pat Cummins’ side slumped to the country’s worst ever total in India.
Test cricket Godfather Allan Border says he hopes Australia is “embarrassed” by its record defeat in India, amid calls for mass changes for the second Test.
Border was measured, but scathing in his assessment of Australia’s humiliating innings and 132-run defeat in Nagpur.
The former tough man was aghast at the scene of players giving the thumbs up to Indian bowlers who had beaten the edge of their bat — demanding the friendliness stop and a harder edge return to the baggy green.
“We’re giving blokes thumbs up when they beat us outside off stump. That’s just ridiculous,” Border said on Fox Cricket.
“Don’t go stupid but play Australian, hard-nosed cricket. Bloody hell.”
Fellow Fox Cricket expert Mark Waugh said multiple changes must be made for the second Test starting in Delhi on Friday, starting with Cameron Green being rushed back from injury and Travis Head immediately returned after his controversial axing backfired spectacularly.
Border said Australia needs to lock themselves in the Nagpur dressing rooms for a “drink-a-thon” soul searching session, with “so many scars” left by the rampant Indians.
“All out in a session. I’m a bit shell shocked to be quite honest,” Border said in a passionate address on Fox Cricket.
“I hope our players are embarrassed by that performance. It’s just poor all around.
“It’s hard to believe it’s happened so quickly.
“It seems like we overthought this particular tour and who should be there, who shouldn’t be there. Travis Head for example, it was chaos before they even got started.
“There’s so many scars there now, it’s going to be a tough few days. You can talk the talk, but ultimately with bat and ball in hand you have to do the job.
“(There needs to be a) drink-a-thon, soul searching. It was as bad as we can play.
“We’ve started as badly as we possibly could. Hopefully that’s rock bottom.”
Australia were bowled out in just a session after giving up a 223-run first innings deficit.
Former Test star Brendon Julian said Australia was guilty of over-thinking the Nagpur pitch and spooking themselves out of the contest before a ball was bowled.
Changes are almost inevitable.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc was spotted at Sydney airport on Saturday flying to India and he will push for immediate inclusion in the second Test.
Selectors did nail the selection of 22-year-old debutant Todd Murphy, but Australia may still have to consider adding left-armer Ashton Agar as a third spinner given the dominance of India’s left armer Ravindra Jadeja.
Former Test vice-captain Brad Haddin called for Head to be returned, but bumped up the order to bat at No.3.
Former National Selector Mark Waugh said on Fox that changes were a must, even though that might be against convention after just one Test.
Such was the magnitude of the defeat.
“There’s going to have to be changes for Australia. Too many bruises have been taken from this game to move forward with some players,” Waugh said on Fox.
“Cameron green if he’s fit, he’s got to come back in. Travis Head has to come back in at 5 and 6 straight away. I know it’s only tough to give certain players one Test but you have to think on your feet and go on your gut feeling. That’s what I would do anyway.
“This has been a demolition job this. Even if Australia were going to get beat, what (will the) effect moving forward be, confidence wise with a lot of the batsmen. After today, most of the batsmen are really going to be searching for answers the next couple of Test matches.”
HOW AN INDIAN CURATOR SABOTAGED WARNIE
Robert Craddock
The Nagpur pitch fiasco has flushed out a remarkable story of how an India curator left Shane Warne a sitting duck in his duel with the great Sachin Tendulkar.
With Nagpur curators being caught in the act of leaving dry areas outside the off-stump of a fleet of Australian left-handers, The Indian Express has gone back in time to spotlight another piece of home town curating.
The website claimed that preparing one part of the pitch to short-circuit an opposition’s strengths was not new.
It said veteran Chennai groundsman K Parthasarathy admitted to deliberately preparing a deck that would nullify Warne’s genius in the 1998 Test series when the Test great was labouring with a sore shoulder.
Warne finished with 1-122 in the second innings as the great Tendulkar plundered 155 guide India to a 179-run win in a series they won 2-1.
“I kept the square patches outside the leg stump, on either side of the wicket, really hard,“ Parthasarathy alleged confided to The Indian Express in the years after the match.
“It was difficult to get turn from that part as there would be no rough there. After that game, Warne came to me and asked why he wasn’t getting the turn and others were.
“I told him it was because of his dodgy shoulder that was to be operated on later in the series.”
Video highlights from Tendulkar’s innings show an increasingly exasperated Warne unable to get significant turn bowling around the wicket into an area which did not deteriorate as quickly as expected.
Tendulkar swung with confidence over the on-side against balls which landed outside off stump, trusting the bounce which was slow but true.
India was the one nation the great Warne never totally cracked. He took 34 wickets at 43 there in nine Tests but the containing role he played in 2004 was crucial to Australia’s only series win there since 1970.
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