Ian Chappell, the legendary Australian cricketer, has criticized some of the selection moves made by the Australian team during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India, describing them as “head-scratching”. Chappell believes that these decisions have contributed to Australia’s struggles in India, where they are currently 2-0 down in the four-match Test series.
Chappell has questioned many of the selectors’ decisions, including the move to drop in-form batter Travis Head for the first Test, despite his impressive performances in Australia. He also questioned the decision to pick Matthew Renshaw as a middle-order batsman, despite his struggles during their previous tour of India.
Chappell believes that batting in the middle order, especially against spin bowling, is much harder than opening against the quicks. This was evident in Renshaw’s performance in the first Test, where he was dismissed for a total of 2 runs.
Chappell also raised questions about the selection of left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann, who was called up to the Australian squad after Mitch Swepson returned home for the birth of his first child. Kuhnemann was picked ahead of Ashton Agar, who was already in the squad, but Chappell believes that Kuhnemann is not ready for Test cricket.
Despite these criticisms, Chappell believes that a good selector can identify players who are ready for Test cricket and take a punt on them. However, he believes that the current system is not good for either the players or the selectors.
With the third Test of the series set to begin on March 1 in Indore, the Australian team will need to regroup and make some smart decisions if they hope to turn their fortunes around against India.