IND vs AUS 2022-23: Michael Clarke slams Australia's lacklustre show; reveals one 'major mistake'

Australia's disgraceful run on the tour of India so far has been loaded with "major, major mistakes", reckons former skipper Michael Clarke. Clarke feels Australia's biggest blunder was not to play a warm-up match ahead of the four-Test series for the Bordder-Gavaskar Trophy that began February 9. Instead, skipper Pat Cummins chose to forge Indian conditions back home before having a quick camp near Bengaluru ahead of the series opener in Nagpur.

A couple of weeks later, the visitors are 0-2 in the series, having already lost a stab at recovering the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. "I'm not surprised by what I see because we didn't have a tour game—major, major, major mistake. There should have been at least one game over there to get used to the conditions," Clarke was heard saying on Monday on Big Sports Breakfast.

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The Australian batters' incapacity to play top-quality spin has been thoroughly exposed in the opening couple of Tests. They endeavoured to sweep their way out of the problem in Delhi, but that gambit flunked miserably. Another primary misstep, according to Clarke, was not having Travis Head in the series opener.

The southpaw top-scored for Australia in the second innings, with 43 off 46 balls before his team tumbled to 113. It was also the only time he had opened in Tests. "Selection for the first Test, major, major mistake. Second Test, blokes were sweeping. We saw enough of that in the first Test match. They're not the right conditions to sweep when you start your innings. And, they're never going to be the right conditions to reverse sweep against the spin at the start of your innings," articulated Clarke.

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Half of the XI descended to sweep or reverse sweep on a pitch with subordinate bounce. "It doesn't matter how many support staff there are around. You're playing for Australia. Indeed, as a batsman playing at the highest level, you calculate that risk versus reward. Against spin bowling on a pitch like that, you would say my 'swim between the flags' is to play straight and hit with spin. Let's stick to those two theories. Straight bat ... I'm going to be playing every ball with the spin," said Clarke.

He also added that Australia should have comprehended how to bat in spin-friendly conditions from India. "It's like we're not watching India bat. Why would you not look at that example and go, 'OK, these guys know the conditions so well, and this is how they're playing'? Why would we try something different when they have been so good? The game was there for us to win if we make 200... and we were 1-60," he said, guiding to the histrionic batting doom with Australia yielding nine wickets for 52 runs.

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India was required to chase down 115, and it did that with six wickets in hand. Clarke also challenged Pat Cummins' field placements on Sunday. "I'm still trying to figure out what happened with our tactics. We had just 100 runs on the board. At one stage, Patty Cummins had four blokes on the boundary. There are two days left in the Test match. You're either bowling India out for under a hundred or you're losing: one or the other," he wondered.

"If you lose in 20 overs, or you lose in two days, it's irrelevant. So, fielders get up, bat-pad off-side, bat-pad leg side. If the ball turns, if the ball bounces, if the ball shoots along the ground, if you make an error in judgment, you are getting out. That's what Australia had to do with the ball. I know it's only a small run lead, but we still had to try and win the game, and we had mid-off back, mid-on back, deep point, and deep square leg. What was I watching?" concluded Clarke.

(With inputs from PTI)