Any cricket lover would have wanted to see a more combative and focused India, but sadly for all, it was a tour that went from bad to worse for MS Dhoni and his men, writes Steve Waugh in his column in The Times Of India.
“We had expected the Indians to come out with blazing AK-47s, but all we saw were water pistols. Ten weeks ago we were all talking about this being India's best chance to win a series in Australia. Australia had been dismissed for 50-odd in South Africa and were clearly going through a rather difficult phase in their transition and rebuilding. I suspect there was some arrogance and, dare I say, complacency in India's approach to the tour. Once they lost in Melbourne, they did not have a Plan B. They simply retreated into their shells and never really expressed the considerable talent the side possessed. India came to Australia as the number two Test side, but their cricket never lived up to that billing,” writes Waugh.
Meanwhile, Dilip Vengsarkar feels that under-performers Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina need to tighten up their batting considerably with the former in need of improving the shot selection and the latter requiring to play the short balls with more conviction. “In an interview, the former chief selector hailed the decision of the selectors to anoint Virat Kohli as the new vice-captain under Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the upcoming Asia Cup and felt that the Delhi youngster seemed to be on the course to make the number three Test slot his own,” says Dilip Vengsarkar.
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell says Sachin Tendulkar should now introspect whether he is playing cricket for right reasons.
"When a player of Tendulkar's ability starts blaming other people for his failure to deliver, it's time he looked in the mirror and asked himself: 'Am I playing this game for the right reason? "There's only one reason to play cricket; to help your team win matches. If a player gives everything and the team loses there is no shame in that, but when individual statistics start to overshadow the team result then clearly there is a problem," Chappell wrote in his column for 'Sunday Telegraph'.
Meanwhile, stand-in Australian skipper Shane Watson has said that he expects Michael Clarke to take charge of the squad during the Commonwealth Bank best of three finals against Sri Lanka, and has also praised South Australian all-rounder Daniel Christian for his five wicket haul, including a hattrick, against the Lankans here on Friday, says a report in Indian Express.
Watson, who has led the team in Clarke's absence for the past two matches, said he was impressed by Christian's efforts. "To get five wickets in a one-day international is a pretty hard task. I think that will give him a hell of a lot of confidence now to know that he's certainly good enough to be able to be a high-quality all rounder in world cricket. It gives the captain even more options with our team having two all-rounders especially he's fitting in very nicely," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Watson, as saying.
