Former India cricketer Varun Aaron was heavily critical of the team's batters after their flop show against Australia in the second T20I of the five-match series. India were bowled out for just 125 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and things could have been even worse them if Abhishek Sharma didn't play a brilliant knock of 68.
Aaron felt that India were easily 30-40 runs short in their innings and remarked that the bowlers could have also performed better than what they did with the new ball.
“India were very off, first of all, with the amount of runs they put on the board. They should have scored at least 30 to 40 runs more in these conditions. I think they pulled the trigger and then they just couldn’t stop going after that. Then, with the new ball, they could have been slightly better,” Aaron said on Star Sports.
Australia easily chase down the target
The visitors eventually failed to defend the target of 126 as the Baggy Greens easily chased down the target with 40 deliveries left to spare. India knew that they would have to pick early wickets if they wanted to have any chance to win the game, but they failed to do so as openers Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head formed a brilliant stand of 51 runs to nullify any kind of pressure.
Marsh was the side's top performer with the bat and played an explosive knock of 46 runs from 26 deliveries. Head and Josh Inglis played cameos of 28 and 20 respectively as the hosts only took 13.2 overs to reach the small target. Josh Hazlewood was adjudged as the Player of the Match for recording brilliant figures of 3/13 in his four-over spell. He was assisted well by both Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis, who recorded figures of 2/39 and 2/21.
India hoping for a victory in 3rd T20I
With them being 1-0 down in the series, India will be desperate to win the third T20I that will be held at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on November 2. Another defeat would see the visitors lose all their chances of winning the series.