Former skipper Michael Clarke on Tuesday (February 14) raised questions over Australia’s team combination in the opening Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test, which they lost by an innings and 132 runs in Nagpur.
According to Clarke, playing two off-spinners in the playing XI is not right for the balance of the team. Alongside the veteran Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy featured in the first Test and the bespectacled off-spinner from Victoria returned with a seven-wicket haul on debut.
While left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has been added to the side after leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson flew back home for the birth of his first child, it would be tough to fit him into the XI given Murphy’s stunning display in Nagpur.
“Our spinners did a good job but I don’t know if two offies is the right balance for us as well,” said Clarke on Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast.
Clarke also slammed the team management for picking Matt Renshaw ahead of Travis Head in the playing XI.
“Travis Head at No.5, if you start with him and it doesn’t work, then you can make a change,” he said.
“Now, they either shoot themselves in the foot if they drop Matthew Renshaw because they say ‘okay, we made a mistake’, and Andrew McDonald has come out and said ‘we haven’t made a mistake’.
“They’ve put themselves in such a tough position.”
Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin spun a web around Australia with the ball to script India’s massive victory in the first Test.
Left-arm spinner Jadeja ran through the Australian batting line-up in the first innings, picking a five-wicket haul (5-47) to bundle out the visitors for a paltry 177.
After India took a massive first-innings lead of 223 runs, it was Ashwin’s turn to demolish the Aussies. The veteran off-spinner returned with the figures of 5 for 37 in his 12 overs as the hosts bowl out the tourists for a mere 91 to wrap the match inside three days.
The second Test will be played in Delhi from February 17 while Indore and Ahmedabad will host the third and fourth Tests from March 1 and March 9, respectively.
