IND v AUS 2023: Greg Chappell points out flaws in Australia's team selection

Former Australia cricketer Greg Chappell has analysed and questioned Australia's mindset before picking up a playing XI for the upcoming third Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, which, he believes, would reflect their intensity, going into the match.

Australia are already falling behind in this Test series by 0-2, thus failing to retain the coveted trophy which they had lost in 2017. Their failure to manage players, poor playing tactics, flummoxed strategy-making and most importantly, their choice of the playing XI in the first two Tests have put them on the receiving end of immense criticism from all corners.

Chappell, not holding himself back, slammed Australia for their poor display of cricket. To draw an analogy of what the team was doing wrong, he extended boxing legend Mike Tyson's famous statement of failing to execute a plan and called Australia's miserable strategy-making efforts 'futile'.

"It was Mike Tyson who said in the lead-up to a fight with Evander Holyfield: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. My concern after watching the first two Tests is that the Australian team punched themselves in the mouth long before the first ball was even bowled. It is one thing to plan, but to base that plan on a flawed premise is an exercise in futility," said Chappell.

Picking spinners not the way to success: Greg Chappell urges Australia to choose their playing XI properly

The former right-handed batter was extremely critical in his analysis of Australia's outing in both the Tests which they comprehensively lost to India. He particularly questioned Australia's intent for being hell-bent to include so many spinners when it has always been the pace attack that has done the trick for the 'kangaroos'.

He also arraigned them for not sticking to their strength even if the pitch favoured spin, and accused the management of blindly emulating the Indian selection pattern of beefing up the line-up with spin options. He was of the opinion that not backing the tested pacers, and, on top of that, being extremely lethargic in their batting approach is what caused Australia to make a complete mess out of both their outings against India.

"Australia needed to play to their strengths to have a chance of winning this series. Spin bowling is not our strength. Picking spinners for the sake of it is not the way to success in India. We had to pick our best bowlers and trust them to do the job and back that with sensible batting, based on sound principles,” the 74-year-old expressed his thoughts while writing in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald.

On an ending note, Chappell expressed his disbelief on skipper Pat Cummins for not bowling as much as he should have bowled and relying upon the spinners to claim those Indian wickets.

“That Cummins under-bowled himself and failed to use the short ball on a wicket of variable bounce was another mistake. To complete the trifecta, it seems that no one saw fit to tell Cummins that he was under-bowling and that he should use the short ball,” Chappell expressed.

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