Ian Chappell criticised the Indian batters for “Australian-type batting” in Indore.© AFP
India captain Rohit Sharma‘s decision to bat against Australia in the ongoing third Test in Indore didn’t go as planned as the hosts were bowled out for a paltry total of 109 in the first innings. Left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann was the pick of the bowlers for Australia as the 26-year-old bagged his maiden Test five-for. However, former Australia captain Ian Chappell criticised the Indian batters, particularly Cheteshwar Pujara and Shreyas Iyer, for “Australian-type batting” on the opening day in Indore.
“There are some players in the Indian side that haven’t convinced me that they’re good players of spin bowling. I thought that the Australians spooked India early on. A couple of things happened with the pitch. The Australian spinners bowled very accurately. But what we saw was Australian-type batting from the Indians. Cheteshwar Pujara is very jumpy. I think right through the series he has been very jumpy. I keep hearing that Shreyas Iyer is a very good player of spin bowling, but I haven’t seen it yet, and I’m not convinced that he is. To me, he is a bit of a panicker,” Chappell said on ESPNcricinfo.
“When Australia batted, particularly [Usman] Khawaja, he was very good. [Marnus] Labuschagne had a good partnership with him. There was more of the Rohit Sharma batting when he got the century in Australia’s innings. To me, it was Australia who outplayed India and definitely deserved to have the lead,” he added.
Australia were bowled out for 197, but took a vital 88-run first innings lead on a tricky pitch that came under fire for offering sharp turn in the first hour of the match.
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