The Indian cricket team did not get off to a good start in the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, with Usman Khawaja punishing the hosts with a century on the opening day. While it cannot be denied that the surface was not helping the bowlers much, Australia great Ian Chappell has also questioned the hosts’ strategy of coming around the wicket against left-handed batsmen.
Chappell said-
“One thing I can’t understand is India’s desire to come around the wicket the whole time to a left-hander. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. You speak to all the good left-handers that I’ve spoken to, and they say that right-arm over the wicket is the toughest guy to face. It’s okay every now and again for a bit of a change around the wicket.”
Khawaja, a left-handed batsman, hardly looked troubled when facing the Indian bowlers, be it pacers or spinners, as he registered his 14th Test century.
Chappell added –
“Maybe around the wicket works more in England. But in India, ridiculous, particularly to a player like Usman Khawaja, whose great strength is his onside, and we saw that today. Why would you angle the ball into his pads when that’s exactly what he wants? Khawaja looked at ease the whole time. India haven’t come up with a solution to Khawaja’s batting, and it’s really starting to hurt them.”
