Published - | Updated - February 20, 2023 11:46 am
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The head coach of Australia, Andrew McDonald, said bluntly that his team “failed the examination” of India in the second innings of the second Test here. At 61 for one at day 2’s end and looking well prepared for the challenge, Australia was all out for 113 after losing nine second-inning wickets for just 48 runs. In order to take a 2-0 lead and keep the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India then reached the victory target of 115 runs with the loss of only four wickets.
According to McDonald, “Our tactics are likely to be criticised, and properly so,” the Australian Associated Press on Monday.
“If you had stated our preparation was good at the conclusion of day two (with Australia at 61/1), you maybe would have had a different perspective, but within an hour on day three, people start to criticise what happened in the past.
After Australia’s 4-0 victory over England in the Ashes, McDonald took over as head coach in place of Justin Langer. He said, “And day three, as well as we could have been, and we failed under the examination of India.”
According to the coach, the training camp in Bengaluru on twisting tracks had given the athletes ample preparation for the spin test.
To a doubt, I still wouldn’t have changed anything we did before, McDonald remarked on Monday.
The coach said, “I think they (the squad) had really outstanding preparation in Bangalore, so there are no excuses.
He said that several players strayed from their tried-and-true strategy, which led to the second humbling loss.
“There were certain people who blatantly abandoned the strategy that had helped them succeed over time, and we as a group must take responsibility for that. The final line is that we must improve upon that; we must take responsibility for it, and we are not here to deny that it was inadequate.” Australia may make significant lineup changes for the third Test starting March 1 in Indore, especially with pace bowler Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Cameron Green likely to be well after missing the first two matches due to injury.