"The lack of belief in their own defence" - Ravi Shastri dissects Australia's batting struggles in Test series in India

Former Team India coach Ravi Shastri has weighed in on Australia's struggles in the ongoing Test series on Indian soil. The 60-year-old opined that not many Aussie batters have shown the required application in the series.

Australian batters have been found wanting in relatively tough batting conditions in India. Both Tests in Nagpur and Delhi saw their batting unit collapse in a heap to lose within three days. The tourists registered totals of 91 and 113 in the second innings of both Tests.

Speaking on an episode of the ICC Review, Shastri lamented the lack of trust in their defence from Australia. The former Indian all-rounder reckons they had to spend some time at the crease instead of going for big shots from the outset.

Shastri said:

"I think application more than anything else. The lack of belief in their own defence. The lack of application and the lack of discipline was unreal and Australia paid for it big time. It's very important to go back to the basics, go back to the drawing board."

He added:

"If you don't trust your defence, you have no chance because that's when you entertain thoughts of breaking free, much quicker than you normally should. Sometimes you've got to spend some time at the crease, but how are you going to spend some time at the crease if you don't trust your defence?"

Australia's best batting performance of the series was in the first innings of the Delhi Test, when they made 263, headlined by Usman Khawaja's 81 and Peter Handscomb's 72. Pat Cummins also lent a useful hand of 33 runs in that innings.

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"A 4-0 win here psychologically does send a strong signal to the opposition" - Ravi Shastri

While Shastri conceded that the World Test Championship (WTC) final will take place in vastly different conditions, he believes a 4-0 defeat can land a psychological blow on Australia.

He opined:

"A 4-0 win here psychologically does send a strong signal to the opposition. There will be an impact, but conditions are different as Australia will have their fast bowlers back as a lot of them are injured."

The former batter concluded:

"But that psychological dent will make India believe that, even in those conditions, they're good enough to upstage Australia."

The third Test against India starts on March 1st in Indore.