England's humiliation a warning for Australia, reckons Ian Chappell

Former Australian captain Ian Chappell has rightly warned Australia ahead of their next year’s first tour to India. In his recent column for the Mid Day, the former cricketer wrote that the way England were beaten in India should be a warning for Australia. In his post, Chappell focused on the point that the team management needs to figure out a right combination for the Indian conditions.

England failed miserably and lost 0-4 due to their mismatched playing eleven. He began with citing of the prolific combination India has. He cited that the team boasts of young batsmen raring to score runs. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are just too dangerous on home tracks.

“Of late it doesn’t seem to matter what combination India utilises, it’s the right one. India has a seemingly endless production line of prolific young batsmen and huge totals plus the guile of spinners R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, have proved to be an irresistible combination,” he quoted.

Chappell certainly wants Australia to play on the same lines and pick the right combination of players. He feels that picking up six specialist batsmen is a right way to go. England chose to field a plethora of all-rounders and that certainly backfired. He believes that in order to succeed in Indian conditions, the team must know that the conditions demand specialist players and not all rounders.

“Picking the best six batsmen is a good start and if they can’t fathom Indian conditions then the tour is destined to be a lost cause. The choice of an all-rounder for India is a far cry from what’s required in Australia, as the batsmen who bowl (Steve Smith and David Warner) are both part-time spinners who can offer a few overs of variety and relief,” he quoted.

He remarked that the England team failed to decide on what role Moeen Ali has in the side. They made him bat at number 4 and also used him as a frontline spinner.

“England regularly selected three specialist batsmen and a slew of all-rounders of varying standard. It’s asking for trouble to man the crucial number four spot with your main spinner and a player who, in other regions, bats at number eight,” he added.

Talking about the English captain Alastair Cook, Ian Chappell mentioned that he is a brilliant batsman. However, when it comes to captaincy, he gets defensive. “In Alastair Cook, England has an obdurate opener who is invaluable as a batsman but a conservative captain who is badly battle scarred,” said the former Aussie skipper.

He also added that Cook should retire now. If he does not and continues, then there are chances that he might regret it if England have another bad day at the office. “If he continues as skipper and then has another horror day or two in the field he’ll be right back where he was following the Chennai debacle. Then he’ll wonder; “Why did I continue.” wrote Chappell.