Australia endured their second consecutive defeat in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Sunday. India hammered the visitors to register a clinical 6-wicket win in Delhi. Following the visitors’ below-par performance, questions have been raised over Australia’s team selection. Former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell shelled out his thoughts on the matter and lashed out at the Aussie team management for putting faith in uncapped spinner Matthew Kuhnemann over all-rounder Ashton Agar.
Kuhnemann was included in the Australian squad as a replacement for leggie Mitchell Swepson after the first Test in Nagpur. Swepson had to travel back to Australia due to his family commitments. Right after earning the call-up, Kuhnemann went on to make his debut in the Delhi Test. The decision to add the youngster to the playing eleven has not gone down well with Chappell.
While expressing his dissatisfaction, the Aussie legend told ESPNCricinfo, “I don’t know what Australia were trying to prove with Matthew Kuhnemann. From what I saw of Kuhnemann, I don’t think he is going to frighten too many Indian batters.”
Chappell explained, “You look at Kuhnemann coming in the side ahead of Ashton Agar, you’d think that Agar must be bowling really badly if suddenly Kuhnemann is a better option than him. I think there was a bit of panic in the Australian camp.”
Although, according to Shaun Tait, Australian selector Tony Dodemaide revealed to the media that Agar was ignored in the starting XI as the bowler himself was not satisfied with his performance in the longest format.
Looking at his debut, Kuhnemann failed to deliver anything special against high-flying India. The 26-year-old off-spinner managed to grab just two wickets both of which came during India’s first innings. He trapped Virat Kohli for an LBW before sending off tailender Mohammad Shami. On the other hand, Agar has featured in 5 Tests so far in the Australian outfit, picking 9 wickets in total.
After the first two encounters of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australia have been in the backfoot as India have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-Test series. India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja once again excelled on the occasion and folded up the assignment with 10 wickets in two innings including his career-best Test spell of 7/42. India and Australia will square off for the third Test on March 1 at the Holkar Stadium, Indore.
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