Australia legend Allan Border was furious as the Pat Cummins-led side for not playing with a “harder edge” against India in the Nagpur opener last week where the tourists lost by a colossal margin of an innings and 123 runs. Border was particularly critical of Steve Smith’s thumb up act during the second innings of the match at the VCA Stadium in Day 3. But the former Australia captain has been served with a blunt reply by Aussie star Alex Carey as he shrugged off the criticism aimed at the team.
Moments after the loss on Saturday, where Australia were folded in a single session for just 91 runs in their chase of India’s 223-run lead, Border had blasted the Aussie batters during his interaction with Fox Cricket. He had singled out Smith during his conversation for giving a thumbs up to Ravindra Jadeja after getting beaten on the outside edge, calling the act “ridiculous”.
“Play with a harder edge. I mean, we’re giving blokes the thumbs up when they’re beating us outside the off stump,” Border had 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”
Australia’s wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey said that while he respected Border, he backed Smith’s methods.
“We highly respect Allan Border,” Carey was quoted by The Sydney Morning Herald. “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.”
The second Test will begin from February 17 onwards in New Delhi.
