Australia vs India: Justin Langer responds to Sachin Tendulkar’s 'defensive' tweet

Justin Langer, the coach of the Australian cricket team, addressed the media on Saturday wherein he responded to the tweet by India’s former legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Australia’s unprecedented ‘defensive mindset’. Langer was also seen answering other questions asked by the reporters on the first two days of play in the ongoing first Test match between India and Australia at Adelaide.

After the closure of play on Day 2, the ‘Little Master’ posted a tweet saying that India had control over the match situation and they should capitalise on the same. Sachin Tendulkar, having played a handful of Test matches against the home side, also went on to mention that the ‘defensive mindset’ showcased by the Australian batting line-up was something so uncharacteristic of them as they always played aggressively with a positive outlook, irrespective of what happens around.

Sachin did believe so as Australia were 191 for the loss of 7 wickets at stumps on Day 2 as they scored at a relatively low run rate of just around 2.

#TeamIndia should make the most of this situation and not lose their grip. The defensive mindset by the Australian batsmen at home is something I’ve not seen before in my experience. @ashwinravi99 has been very effective and has played a role to help the team be on top, for now.

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) December 7, 2018

Langer comes in support for his team

Justin Langer, when asked about Sachin Tendulkar’s tweet, said that the low run rate has a lot to do with the lack of experience in the current Australian team and each of them is going through a learning curve and understanding the art of winning Test matches.

“Every time he’s(Sachin) played Australia he had Allan Border or David Boon, guys who have played 300 or 400 Tests between them. We’ve literally got kids when it comes to Test cricket playing. They’re just finding their own skin, they’re fighting their backsides off, not only to help us win the Test match but to find out what Test cricket’s about,” the Aussie coach said.

Langer also pointed out the impact of India’s off-spinner Ashwin as he bowled consistently well and didn’t allow the Aussies to settle down and manipulate the scoreboard. “You’re always looking to score, every one of them is looking to score, but they bowled really well, Ashwin bowled well, we’ve got to find different ways of playing him, that’ll come. But it’s a very different team this batting order than what we’ve seen in past Australian teams”, said the former Australian opener.

The 48-year-old further backed his team by saying that opinions and criticisms would be circulated, like that of Sachin Tendulkar’s tweet, but it is important that the players don’t lend heft to people’s judgements and concentrate only on doing well on the field.

“After the day’s play I knew there’d be a lot of comments about, like Sachin’s comments, I knew that’s what they’d say. And if that starts affecting our players then that’s going to really hurt us so the key is to get as close to the mark as we can and regardless of whether it’s no more runs or go ahead of them it’s going to be key how we bowl in the second innings”, Langer signed off.

~ Written by Harikrishnan Sivakumar

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