Nathan Lyon’s axing a massive blunder by Michael Clarke, says Rahul Dravid

Nathan Lyon’s axing a massive blunder by Michael Clarke, says Rahul Dravid

Former Indian captain and legendary batsman Rahul Dravid is following the ongoing India-Australia Test clash very closely. Talking about the visiting side’s terrible bowling show in the second encounter at Hyderabad, Dravid says that Michael Clarke made
a massive blunder by axing skipper Nathan Lyon.

The Uppal wicket was likely to assistant the slow bowlers right from the start. Therefore, Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to play three specialist spinners. With Ravi Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja, India entered the game with a strong spinning
department.

The part-time spinners such as Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli were not needed, as the specialists sent the entire Aussie side just for 237 runs.

Since Michael Clarke had dropped Lyon, Australia was playing with a lot weaker spin attack. The India batsmen gave no respect to the tourists, and put up a massive total of 503 in the first innings.

Now, the Australians are under huge pressure, as the three Indian spinners are likely to create big problems in the second innings. Dravid termed Clarke’s move regarding Lyon as a ‘tactical blunder’, and said that the skipper should be held responsible for
the unfavourable result, if the side suffers defeat.

"The biggest tactical blunder that Michael Clarke has to take some responsibility for is the decision not to play Nathan Lyon," Dravid told ‘espncricinfo’.

"They are being too clever with their team selections. Lyon didn’t run through the Indian side in Chennai but he bowled particularly well there, especially in the second innings, he looked like he was getting some confidence.”

"It’s never easy to come to India and bowl to some of the Indian batsmen on these kind of wickets they are so used to. By dropping Nathan Lyon, it shocked whatever confidence he gained in that Test," he said.

Talking about the possible result of the game, the former cricket stated that he expects an early finish, provided the Indian spinners perform to the expectations. He further explained that Doherty and Maxwell are no match for the likes of Harbhajan, Ashwin
and Jadeja.

"Their (Australia’s) ability to compete in this Test match was severely compromised by the fact they didn’t have any quality spinner to be able to put any pressure on India throughout the day. We’re headed for a fourth-day finish," he said.

"We will see a completely different track when the Indian spinners bowl. It will be tough going for Australia … at least in Chennai you felt they were in the contest but the first two days here they have been completely outplayed.”

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Posted by Rana Nasir Ghafoor on Mar 4 2013. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry