Former Australia cricketer Shane Warne has blasted the selection of Steve Smith in the Australia team after their recent loss to England in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021. Eoin Morgan and co. handed an 8-wicket drubbing to Kangaroos in Dubai on October 30.

Warne, who is known to not mince his words, did a scathing post-mortem of Aaron Finch-led side’s terrible loss to England, who have now won all three of their matches, and look set to secure a semi-final spot.

"Disappointing selection from Australia leaving (Mitch) Marsh out & (Glenn) Maxwell batting in the power play (he should always come in after power play)," he wrote on Twitter.

"(Marcus) Stoinis should have gone in. Poor strategy & tactics from the Aussies. I love Smith but he shouldn't be in the T/20 team. Marsh has to be,” he added.

Steve Smith is considered to be an all-time great batter of the recent era, but his T20 performances have been criticized since his debut, owing to his batting style. Against England, he struggled and eventually got out for 1 run in 5 balls.

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Warne praised Eoin Morgan's team, who now sit on top of Group 1 in the 12-team Super 12 phase of the competition with six points from their opening three matches. The top two teams from each of the two six-nation groups advance to the semi-finals. Pakistan currently leads Group 2 ahead of Afghanistan.

"Proper T/20 cricket that from England! Australia will hopefully learn how they need to play after that smashing they copped from the Poms. Pakistan & England are showing how to play T/20 cricket. Australia need to change their thinking re style of play plus the team,” Warne tweeted.

(Reuters inputs)