After Australia faced an embarrassing defeat in the first of four-match Test series against India in Nagpur, Aussie legend Allan Border slammed the players for not playing with a harder edge.
The incident that particularly made Border angry was Steve Smith giving a thumbs up to Ravindra Jadeja after being beaten on the outside edge.
“Play with a harder edge. I mean, we’re giving blokes the thumbs up when they’re beating us outside the off stump,” Border said on Fox Cricket.
“What the hell is going on? That is just ridiculous. Don’t go stupid, but Australia play hard nose cricket. We’re even giving someone thumbs up… bloody hell,” he added.
The 67-year-old said that the touring party need to improve their game for the remaining matches.
“There’s so many scars there now, it’s going to be a tough few days. You can talk the talk, but ultimately the boys with the bat in hand and ball in hand have got to do the job,” Border said.
“It’s going to be hard to find a way, but they’ve just got to do it. A big, soul-searching dressing room drink-a-thon tonight, just to try to thrash something out. That’s as bad as we can play, there’s only one way to go from here,” he added further.
Smith was Australia’s highest scorer in the second innings, finishing not out with 25 runs from 51 balls. Ten wickets fell in a session as Australia were bundled out for 91 runs – their lowest innings total in India.
Barring Todd Murphy’s performance, with the debutant taking seven wickets, Australia did not have anything to take away as a positive. The second Test of the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy will begin in Delhi on February 17.
