Andrew McDonald defends Australia’s preparations for Border Gavaskar Trophy

The Australian team suffered yet another batting collapse in the second Test of the ongoing Border Gavaskar series. With questions being raised about a lack of preparation for the Aussie batters, head coach Andrew McDonald has put their failure down to application rather than preparation.

The visitors swept their way to destruction in the Delhi Test. An abysmal collapse saw them lose nine wickets in the first session of the third day. The Indian team raced to victory in the fourth innings, retaining the Border-Gavaskar trophy. The loss initiated a flurry of question marks on the Australian batters’ preparation for the ongoing series.

Pat Cummins’ side opted out of a practice match in Indian conditions and instead prepared for the four-match series on a turning track in Sydney and an intensive training camp in Bangalore. Head coach Andrew McDonald has defended his side’s tactics. He stated that the Aussie batters could not cope against the Indian bowlers which was to blame for their horrible second innings performance.

“I still wouldn’t have changed what we did leading in, there’s no doubt about that. They had really good preparation in Bangalore, so there’s not any excuses. I don’t think that had a great bearing on what happened in that hour, we were prepared for that, and day three, as well as we could have been and we failed under the examination of India,” McDonald said to the press in Delhi on Monday.

Our methods are going to be critiqued, and rightfully so: McDonald

McDonald reckoned the approach of his batters was rightfully critiqued. There were a few batters who did not adhere to the plans opined Mcdonald. He openly admitted that it wasn’t a good performance by the batters, who need to own their mistakes in tough Indian batting conditions.

“Our methods are going to be critiqued, and rightfully so. There were some people who went clearly away from the game plan that made them successful over a period of time and that’s for us to own as a collective. We’ve got to be better than that, that’s the bottom line, we’ve got to own it and we are not here to shy away from the fact that wasn’t good enough,” he added.