Last Update on: September 25th, 2023 at 10:49 am
Australia’s stand-in captain Steve Smith admitted that the team needs to sort a few things out ahead of the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023. His comments came after Australia suffered a crushing 99-run loss against India in the second ODI at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Sunday (September 24).
Australia were thoroughly outplayed by India in the second ODI. Having lost the first ODI, Australia needed to win the second game of the three-match series to keep the series alive. However, the visitors failed to come up with a good performance with either ball or bat.
Asked to bat first, India piled up a mammoth total of 399 for 5. Shubman Gill (104) and Shreyas Iyer (105) scored centuries while KL Rahul (52) and Suryakumar Yadav (72 off 37 balls with six fours and six sixes) scored fifties for the hosts. In reply, Australia were all out for just 217 runs while they were given a revised total of 317 runs in 33 overs after a rain break.
At one stage, the tourists were reeling at 140 for 8 before an explosive partnership of 77 runs between Sean Abbott (54 in 36 balls with four boundaries and five sixes) and Josh Hazlewood (23) helped Australia post a respectable score.
Steve Smith on consecutive losses:
At a time when teams like to hit top form, Australia have been performing poorly. With the World Cup less than two weeks away, the team from Down Under has lost five ODIs in a row. Earlier this month, they lost the last three games of the five-match ODI series against South Africa before losing the first two games of the ongoing series against India.
And Steve Smith is well aware of the issue faced by Australia. Steve Smith, who won the World Cup in 2015, admitted that his team has failed to peak at the right time for the World Cup. He also praised India for their performance and the win.
“When we came here it looked a good wicket, changed a little bit. Credit to India, they batted beautifully…400 was always a big challenge on that. I have seen games here before and it’s looked good for chasing. We were a fair way off,” Steve Smith said.
“We have lost quite a few in a row now…World Cups are about peaking at the right time, we certainly haven’t done that at this stage. A few things to sort out. We know we are a good side. Both teams are working towards the World Cup but still want to win games,” he added.
The third and final match of the series is scheduled to be played on Wednesday (September 27) in Rajkot.
