‘Clueless’ Aussie move ‘smacked of panic’

A former Australian captain has accused Test selectors of “overthinking” the lineup, as the fallout from Australia’s disastrous second Test collapse continues.

Ian Chappell said panic had set into the Australian squad well before a ball was bowled in Delhi.

He said while much criticism had rightly been made of the Australian batting performance, the bowling selection left much to be desired – particularly the decision to fly Matt Kuhnemann in for the second Test. Kuhnemann played in front of Ashton Agar, despite the latter being part of the original squad.

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“I don’t think there was any justification for some of the things they’ve done – their selections smacked of panic,” Chappell told Wide World of Sports.

“If you want to look at panic, the dropping of Head [and] playing Renshaw saying he’s a good player of spin bowling, and you bat him in the middle order.

“You come into the second Test with one quick only, you fly Kuhnemann over from Australia and you play him ahead of Agar, who bowls the same sort of stuff, and was in the original squad. 

“Now, are you going to tell me they’re not panic selections? This is the problem … they overthink things.”

While plenty of noise has been made about the batting lineup, Chappell said Australia’s best batters were on the tour, while he wasn’t convinced the same could be said for the bowlers.

Mitchell Swepson was taken to India but didn’t play in the first test. He flew home for the birth of his child and was unavailable for the second. Leg spinner Adam Zampa was also overlooked for the tour.

“I don’t think they know what their best bowling lineup is. I also don’t think they know what their best batting lineup is in India, but … the best batsmen are in India now,” Chappell said.

“You’ve got to pick your best bowlers. As the selector, you have to ask who do you think will take the 20 wickets the quickest? And I don’t think they’ve got a clue who that is, certainly not in India.

“In Australia, they know damn well – three quickies, Green as a fourth seamer, and one spinner, they’re fine here. 

“But this is not Australia – it’s India and you’ve got to find a way to play well, and Australia haven’t found that method.”

Given the new ball in both innings, Kuhnemann finished with match figures of 2-110 from 28.3 overs. He was targeted by the Indian batters in a particularly expensive second innings, which saw him finish with figures of 0-38 from just seven overs.

Chappell said he wasn’t overly impressed with Kuhnemann’s debut.

“Agar must be bowling very badly if they pick him in the original squad, and they put this guy in ahead of him. What the hell’s Agar doing?” he asked.

“There wasn’t a lot to be impressed by Kuhnemann.

‘I’m very glad it’s their selection problem and not mine.”

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