Quantcast

Aussie batsmen repeating mistakes: Clarke

World Cup winning captain concerned by consistent failures against India's spinners

Former captain Michael Clarke believes Australia's batsmen are repeating mistakes as they look to overcome a disappointing run of ODI form away from home.

Clarke, who played 245 ODIs and won two World Cups, said the most concerning factor in Australia's current trend of batting collapses was a failure to learn from errors made.

"It's hard to hear the fact that we are so reliant on a couple of players (in Steve Smith and David Warner)," the 36-year-old was quoted as saying in India Today.

"In regards to facing spin bowling, I am not sure we are getting any better. I feel like the players are making the same mistake. They are scared of getting out."

Aussies collapse as India go 2-0 up

Australia lost 6-63 in the second ODI last Thursday to surrender the match in which they were chasing a moderate target of 253, while four days earlier they lost 8-109, albeit in challenging circumstances as a revised figure of 21 overs made the going particularly tough.

Prior to that, they lost 8-118 in their Champions Trophy loss to England at Edgbaston in June, 6-67 against New Zealand at Eden Park in February, and 8-121 against South Africa in Port Elizabeth 12 months ago.

They are now without a win in their 10 previous completed ODIs away from home.

Captain Smith and vice-captain Warner have both discussed the issue of the batting collapses – with no immediate solution – and Clarke said the results would be hard for the skipper to take.

"I think as captain every game you lose, you take it personally," he added. "So I think he would definitely feel the heat.

"We are ranked fifth in Tests, third in ODIs and sixth in T20Is. As captain you want to see your team back at the No.1 position."

Australia lost their top ODI ranking to South Africa after a 2-0 series defeat in New Zealand, and have slipped to third since. They briefly had an opportunity to regain top place in India via a 4-1 series win, however defeat in the second ODI quashed that possibility.

While Australia have stumbled away from home, their dominance on the home front remains strong: in their past 27 completed ODIs on home soil, dating back to November 2014, they have won 25. 


Australia's Qantas Tour of India

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

Australia T20 squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.

India squad (first three ODIs): Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

ODI Fixtures


September 17: India won by 26 runs (DLS Method)

September 21: India won by 50 runs

September 24: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore

September 28: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

October 1: VCA Stadium, Nagpur


T20 Fixtures


October 7: JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi

October 10: Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati

October 13: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad