The interim coach Andre Borovec backs the side second T20I defeat on Australia’s tour of India and opens on the trails of different combinations in the squad.
Borovec on Australia’s trail on different combinations
With claiming their sixth World Cup title, Australia resumed their tour on India where they suffered two consecutive defeats in T20I matches. The side have rested 8 members of the World Cup winning squad in the T20I matches they’ve played.
With the 44 runs defeat of the visitors in Thiruvananthapuram, India leads the series 2-0. As the head coach Andrew McDonald headed back to home along with the players rested, Borovec takes the reins of the new squad in the 5-match T20I series.
The important point has been the rise of Steve Smith to opener after he shined in the five game stint in the KFC BBL last summer, and Borovec says he’s liked what he’s seen from the superstar batter in the first two matches.
Smith was run out for 52 in the series opener last Thursday before falling for 19 to a stunning diving catch by Yashasvi Jaiswal. On this ocassion, Andre Borovec opens on the
“One of the things we had in our planning coming into this series was to have a look at Steve (Smith) up the top and we’ve had a chance to do that now,” Borovec said post-match.
“We’ve been extremely happy with the intent that he’s shown with the bat, (I) couldn’t fault it actually.”
“As of tonight, there’s 10 games to go for us before the T20 World Cup and one of the key pillars of our game is intent,” Borovec said. “You couldn’t fault that throughout the (batting) innings.
“Will there be mistakes made? Of course. But if we’re making mistakes with good intent, good decisions and good plans, then if the execution doesn’t go quite right, well, we’re quite happy to accept that, and then we can work on the execution.
“I’m really happy with that aspect of our game. The evidence was there at the end of the game – it would have been quite easy to maybe not keep going but it certainly didn’t happen … the guys kept coming, they kept shooting.
“It’s just that we were behind on those wickets early on, which made the execution really tight for the batters and needless to say there’s inferred pressure that makes it harder to execute as the game goes on.
“So (I) cannot fault the endeavour from the bowling group and the batting group,” he concluded.
Australia will be heading towards Guwahati for the 3rd T20I on November 27, 2023 at Barsapara Stadium.
