Published: Feb 14, 2023, 11:16 AM (IST)
Edited: Feb 14, 2023, 01:09 PM (IST)
New Delhi: Australia had a haunted outing against India in Nagpur as the team lost the first Test by a whopping margin of an inning and 132 runs. Expectedly, the team was slammed by the cricket experts for their horrible performance.
While several experts lambasted the entire team for the poor show, former Australia cricketer Allan Border went after Steve Smith, who gave a ‘thumb’s up’ to the bowler after being beaten by a peach. Smith has always been appreciative of good deliveries and giving ‘thumb’s up’ is something he has done throughout his career.
“Play with a harder edge. I mean, we’re giving blokes the thumbs up when they’re beating us outside the off stump,” Border said. “What the hell is going on? That is just ridiculous. Don’t go stupid, but Australia play hard nose cricket. We’re even giving someone thumbs up … bloody hell,” said Border.
Australia wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey has now responded to Border’s comments. Carey said the Australian team respects Allan Border but Steve Smith is friends with a lot of Indian players and the team see nothing wrong in it.
“We highly respect Allan Border,” Carey said. “I guess among the group, guys do it differently. We come up against these players a lot.
“You’re probably alluding to the Steve Smith comment more than any but, you know, he’s mates with a lot of them. And that’s the way he [Smith] plays. He does it in all situations. He plays around with his hands and does all that stuff. And I think that’s probably what gets him pretty focused.
“They’re obviously strong comments but, as a group, we believe in what we’re doing and come the second Test we’re ready to put a few learnings into place.”
Ahead of the series, Allan Border had predicted a 2-1 series win for Australia. He might have to give his prediction a second thought after Australia’s hammering in the first game.
