The Pat Cummins-led Australia faced an embarrassing defeat at the hands of India in the first Test match of the four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 in Nagpur on Saturday (February 11). The visitors failed miserably to play the spin bowling of the hosts and were crushed by huge 132 runs and an innings.
Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin shined for India to outclass the Aussies, while Rohit Sharma slammed a brilliant ton in the match. On the other hand, Australia seemed clueless and frustrated throughout the game as they struggled with both bat and ball. Notably, Australia’s 91 in their second innings was the world no. 1 ranked Test side’s lowest-ever total in India.
After the humiliating defeat, Australian media slammed their cricketers on Sunday and asked some hard questions to the team and management. The decision to drop Travis Head from the opening game and give veteran opener David Warner chances despite recurrent failures saw the wrath of Australia’s new organizations.
The Sydney Morning Herald said: “a brutal reality check in their (Australia’s) quest for world domination by India’s spin masters.”
Meanwhile, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph asked for the return of Head in the team and even termed the Australian team a sinking ship.
“The axing of Travis Head looked silly on day one and positively stupid on day three after Australia’s dreadful performance. He must return. But Travis Head alone would not have raised the Titanic,” said the Telegraph.
In the meantime, legendary Allan Border said that the team should be embarrassed about their terrible performance.
“I hope our players are embarrassed by x that performance. It’s just poor all around. It’s hard to believe it’s happened so quickly,” he told Fox Sports. “It seems like we over-thought this particular tour and who should be there, who shouldn’t be there. We’ve started as badly as we possibly could. Hopefully that’s rock bottom,” said the former Australia captain.
