(Cricket news) When Australia first announced the squad and traveled to India the general opinion of the players and media was that this squad was the best to tour India since 2005. Now after just 2 Tests it has already been proven wrong. Injuries have hampered the Australian side which is never ideal especially when playing a Test series in India.

Josh Hazlewood injured himself just before the 1st Test and has now been ruled out of the series. Mitchell Starc was never going to make it for the 1st Test but he later didn’t pass the fitness Test before the 2nd Test as well. Cameron Green was a doubt for the 1st Test but supposed to come back for the 2nd one which didn’t happen.

David Warner injured his elbow in the 2nd innings and has now been sent back to recover and prepare for the ODI series. In the 1st Test Australia played 2 spinners and 2 seamers. Nathan Lyon and Pat Cummins picked themselves while Scott Bolland was the obvious option with Starc and Hazelwood injured. The visitors handed Todd Murphy a debut ahead of other experienced options Mitchell Swepson and Ashton Agar. Even though Murphy bowled really well Australia lacked variation as both the bowlers were off spinners. 

In the 2nd Test Australia decided to play 3 spinners along with Pat Cummins. Mitchell Swepson had gone home for the birth of his child hence he was unavailable and left arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann was called as a replacement. Kuhnemann then made his debut while Agar was again left out. Now after the return of Swepson, Agar has been sent home to get some game time in domestic cricket to prepare for the ODIs.

The selection calls clearly suggest that Australia had no clear plan and the 1st squad that was picked was wrong. To make matters worse captain Pat Cummins has gone back to Australia due to a family emergency and if he doesn’t make it back in time Australia will be in big trouble.

Australia’s chopping and changing doesn’t reflect well especially how many ex-players thought that Australia were actually favorites. The decision to not play a tour game was a bizzare one but Steve Smith defended by saying that they don’t control what surface they well get as last time around they got a green surface in their tour match against Mumbai. The decision has already backfired as the Aussies look absolutely clueless with the bat and the bowling is also not been the best. It will be a massive upset if Australia manage to win a match in the series but this is a big lesson and they will be looking to come back stronger next time around.

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