The wrong man is captain of Australia

Taking over for Pat Cummins, who returned home to be with his mother Maria after she entered palliative care, Smith won his second Test on the subcontinent to join the likes of Ian Johnson, Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry and Adam Gilchrist a multiple Australian Test winning captains in India.Watch Australia’s Tour of India. Every Test & ODI live & ad-break free during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >After two horror matches to start the series under the leadership of Cummins, Australia were able to turn the series around under Smith, who commentators heaped praise on as Australia cruised to a nine wicket win at Holkar Stadium in Indore.“I also said this at the start of this Test match, it’s a much better balanced team with Mitchell Starc in that team, Cameron Green in that team, Travis Head now allowed to play. And Steve Smith captain,” Matthew Hayden said in commentary.“He was inspired yesterday. The moment he caught Pujara, you could tell that he was right in the match. He has been brilliant. Tactically on point, up for the challenge.“And even now, you can see the messages come out at that change of ball ‘boys, we have this’. There’s a confidence with him at the helm.”He wasn’t the only one either as Brad Haddin echoed the comments.“What I liked about it is they trusted their style, that they went back to what’s worked for them in the past,” he said on Fox Cricket.“And the one big difference was Steve Smith. I thought he was tactically really good. Starc, it was good to see him back but the balance of the team was perfect as well.”Some may look at it as a dead rubber as India had already wrapped up the series, but wins in India are always hard to come by.It’s an incredible statistic since Australia have played 15 series’ in India but have a record of 14 wins, 23 losses, 15 draws and one tie in 53 Tests.Ian Johnson had a perfect two from two record in 1956/57 in the first series Australia played in Inda, Richie Benaud had two wins, a loss and two draws in 1959/60, while Lawry won three, lost one and drew one in the 1969/70 series.But the likes of Allan Border with two draws and a tie from his from three Tests as captain in India, Mark Taylor went one win from four, Steve Waugh one from three, Ricky Ponting seven Tests for five losses and two draws and Michael Clarke three losses in three matches.Since the 1969/70 series, only Adam Gilchrist, who captained in the place of Ricky Ponting in the famous 2004/05 series win, and now Smith, who now has a record of two wins, two losses and a draw, have won multiple matches as captain of Australia in India.Smith also becomes the first Aussie skipper to win on multiple tours.It was a daunting task for the Aussies after collapsing in Dehli, and entering an arena India had not yet lost at in Test matches, although only two Test had previously been played at the stadium.And it was a stadium which was widely panned for the substandard pitch which crumbled from day one.The first two matches of the series saw Australia widely panned for its selections after Travis Head, who scored 525 runs during the home summer, was unceremoniously dropped for the first Test.But the praise for Smith has inadvertently raised questions over Cummins’ position as Australian Test captain, a line of questioning Smith himself was quick to shut down.“My time as captain is done. This is Patty’s (Pat Cummins) team now,” Smith said after the match. “Glad I’m able to stand in. Love captaining here. You have to be proactive. Every ball is an event and it can dictate what happens next. I think I did it well this week. It was good fun.”But should the question be asked?Cummins is, apart from Ray Lindwall’s one-off Test as captain in 1956, the only true fast bowling skipper Australia has ever appointed.The now 29-year-old quick has had a strong start to his captaincy reign, having eight wins, three losses and four draws, although two losses have come during this series in India.But India was always going to be the biggest test Cummins has faced as a leader and the tactics and selections from Australia were heavily slammed in the first two Tests.Former Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy last week said the burden of captaincy could prove detrimental for Cummins in the long term.“I don’t want him carrying the burden of so much captaincy for too long,” Healy said on SENQ’s Pat and Heals.“I want him to finish (as just a bowler),” he said.“The captaincy creates a burnout and four to five years is a long time as a captain.“He’s done a few years (as Test captain) already, now he’s adding (short-form captaincy) to his thought processes at a time when he’s dealing with some sort of family illness back home.“So yeah, I would like to see him finish his career as a tearaway fast bowler and someone else with the captaincy burden.”Smith has his own detractors as the stain from the 2018 ball tampering scandal still lingers. However, his captaincy credentials are undeniable with 21 wins from 37 matches as Test captain, as well as 10 losses and six draws.

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March 03, 2023 at 11:30PM
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Taking over for Pat Cummins, who returned home to be with his mother Maria after she entered palliative care, Smith won his second Test on the subcontinent to join the likes of Ian Johnson, Richie Benaud, Bill Lawry and Adam Gilchrist a multiple Australian Test winning captains in India.Watch Australia’s Tour of India. Every Test & ODI live & ad-break free during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >After two horror matches to start the series under the leadership of Cummins, Australia were able to turn the series around under Smith, who commentators heaped praise on as Australia cruised to a nine wicket win at Holkar Stadium in Indore.“I also said this at the start of this Test match, it’s a much better balanced team with Mitchell Starc in that team, Cameron Green in that team, Travis Head now allowed to play. And Steve Smith captain,” Matthew Hayden said in commentary.“He was inspired yesterday. The moment he caught Pujara, you could tell that he was right in the match. He has been brilliant. Tactically on point, up for the challenge.“And even now, you can see the messages come out at that change of ball ‘boys, we have this’. There’s a confidence with him at the helm.”He wasn’t the only one either as Brad Haddin echoed the comments.“What I liked about it is they trusted their style, that they went back to what’s worked for them in the past,” he said on Fox Cricket.“And the one big difference was Steve Smith. I thought he was tactically really good. Starc, it was good to see him back but the balance of the team was perfect as well.”Some may look at it as a dead rubber as India had already wrapped up the series, but wins in India are always hard to come by.It’s an incredible statistic since Australia have played 15 series’ in India but have a record of 14 wins, 23 losses, 15 draws and one tie in 53 Tests.Ian Johnson had a perfect two from two record in 1956/57 in the first series Australia played in Inda, Richie Benaud had two wins, a loss and two draws in 1959/60, while Lawry won three, lost one and drew one in the 1969/70 series.But the likes of Allan Border with two draws and a tie from his from three Tests as captain in India, Mark Taylor went one win from four, Steve Waugh one from three, Ricky Ponting seven Tests for five losses and two draws and Michael Clarke three losses in three matches.Since the 1969/70 series, only Adam Gilchrist, who captained in the place of Ricky Ponting in the famous 2004/05 series win, and now Smith, who now has a record of two wins, two losses and a draw, have won multiple matches as captain of Australia in India.Smith also becomes the first Aussie skipper to win on multiple tours.It was a daunting task for the Aussies after collapsing in Dehli, and entering an arena India had not yet lost at in Test matches, although only two Test had previously been played at the stadium.And it was a stadium which was widely panned for the substandard pitch which crumbled from day one.The first two matches of the series saw Australia widely panned for its selections after Travis Head, who scored 525 runs during the home summer, was unceremoniously dropped for the first Test.But the praise for Smith has inadvertently raised questions over Cummins’ position as Australian Test captain, a line of questioning Smith himself was quick to shut down.“My time as captain is done. This is Patty’s (Pat Cummins) team now,” Smith said after the match. “Glad I’m able to stand in. Love captaining here. You have to be proactive. Every ball is an event and it can dictate what happens next. I think I did it well this week. It was good fun.”But should the question be asked?Cummins is, apart from Ray Lindwall’s one-off Test as captain in 1956, the only true fast bowling skipper Australia has ever appointed.The now 29-year-old quick has had a strong start to his captaincy reign, having eight wins, three losses and four draws, although two losses have come during this series in India.But India was always going to be the biggest test Cummins has faced as a leader and the tactics and selections from Australia were heavily slammed in the first two Tests.Former Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy last week said the burden of captaincy could prove detrimental for Cummins in the long term.“I don’t want him carrying the burden of so much captaincy for too long,” Healy said on SENQ’s Pat and Heals.“I want him to finish (as just a bowler),” he said.“The captaincy creates a burnout and four to five years is a long time as a captain.“He’s done a few years (as Test captain) already, now he’s adding (short-form captaincy) to his thought processes at a time when he’s dealing with some sort of family illness back home.“So yeah, I would like to see him finish his career as a tearaway fast bowler and someone else with the captaincy burden.”Smith has his own detractors as the stain from the 2018 ball tampering scandal still lingers. However, his captaincy credentials are undeniable with 21 wins from 37 matches as Test captain, as well as 10 losses and six draws.