After watching India succumb to England last year, Aussie pace legend Jeff Thomson says he had no doubt that the tourists would suffer the same fate down under
After watching India succumb to England last year, Aussie pace legend Jeff Thomson says he had no doubt that the tourists would suffer the same fate down under
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India opener Virender Sehwag during the recent Test series against
Australia. Pic/Getty Images
"India just gives me the impression of a side that is feeding off past laurels, living in the past so to speak. They don't seem to have a vision for the future. How do you explain none of their batsmen getting dropped after three horrible performances at Melbourne, Sydney and Perth? It's a side that refused to make changes," the New South Welshman told MiD DAY yesterday.
Jeff Thomson
Thomson (61) felt India's Big Three -- Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman -- will score runs on flat tracks at home later this year to prolong their careers. "I don't want to be too harsh on them and say that they should call it a day immediately. But I know that they'll probably go home and score runs on flat wickets, and everyone will forget about what happened in England and Australia. I've seen a lot of Indian teams tour Australia, but I have never seen them go this badly. Some of them have been here so many times, but still haven't figured out what's to be done (to be successful). India have never won in Australia and I don't see that trend changing in the future," he said.
"I think Umesh (Yadav) is a good bowler. They (India) should stick with him for a while. I thought he suffered trying to control the Kookaburra ball. He should have prepared better for the series," he added. Thomson is however impressed with India batsman Virat Kohli. "The only positive India can take from the series is Kohli. He showed a lot of maturity and can develop into a world-class player. I was very disappointed with India's thinking of keeping him down at No 6. He should have batted at No 3 in Adelaide -- and Laxman should have made way for another youngster," he opined.
Thomson, who has been highly critical of Ricky Ponting's captaincy in the past, was glad to see the Tasmanian play as just a batsman. "I am very happy for Ponting. I always said that he was a great batsman but a very ordinary captain. I still stand by that. His resurgence as a batsman, and with Clarke scoring runs, is a great sign for Australia. But, if you take those two out of the side, I still feel Australia have problems with their batting.
"If India could have found someone to score runs in the series, it could have been a different story. The problem is that none of the older guys showed responsibility -- and put their hands up. Of course, they didn't have the bowling attack to take 20 wickets either. They just didn't challenge Australia. It was the most one-sided series I have seen in a long time" he said.
Thomson credited Australia bowling coach Craig McDermott for their resurgence. "This was pretty much a similar attack 12 months ago -- and yet looked like an entirely different unit. McDermott and Mickey Arthur (head coach) have obviously done a really good job. McDermott has taught these boys a few tricks. I still don't know if they are ready to beat England, but are getting there," he signed off.
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