Australia suffered a heavy defeat to India in the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. After the game, some of the Aussie legends had an opinion about the attitude and gestures of a few Australian cricketers. Here, we take a look as Allan Border wants Steve Smith to stop giving a thumbs up to good deliveries by the opposition bowlers.
Allan Border does not like Steve Smith giving a thumbs up
Steve Smith has the habit of appreciating the bowlers after they deliver a good ball. This happened during the first Test, too. He did that on many occasions, especially to Ravindra Jadeja. However, former cricketer, Allan Border was not impressed with it.
Speaking on Fox Cricket, he said, “Play with a harder edge. I mean, we’re giving blokes the thumbs up when they’re beating us outside the off stump. Don’t go stupid, but Australia play hard nose cricket. We’re even giving someone thumbs up … bloody hell.”
Allan Border wants Steve Smith to stop offering his opponents a thumbs up when he's beaten on the outside edge 👍
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— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) February 12, 2023
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Australia needs a strong comeback in Delhi
Amongst the teams that have toured India in recent times, Australia was predicted to be the squad that will give India the toughest challenge. Adding to this, the Aussies have been in fine form and have recently done well in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Moreover, they had Steve Smith, one player who plays spin better than even some of the Indian batters.
However, in Nagpur, they had no answers to the performance of the Indian cricketers. While the spin trio, especially Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, was in top form, the Indian batters also looked comfortable. Australia would need the batters to step up in Delhi. They would also want to bring in Nathan Lyon into the thick of action. A couple of changes could be expected in the playing XI, with Travis Head most certain to return to the XI.
