On Tuesday, Australia's batting coach, Michael Di Venuto, admitted that trying to push the scoring rate was a mistake in the second Test against India.
The team lost the game by six wickets. He said that Australia's batting plans were working well until a dramatic collapse saw them lose eight wickets for 28 runs. It all started when with Steve Smith's dismissal to the sweep shot, as Australia were all out for 113 in 31.1 overs, giving India just 115 runs to win the Test. "Plans certainly weren't wrong. Our plans are good, but if people go away from their plans they're going to get in trouble, as we saw," Di Venuto said on Tuesday.
"We were almost ahead of the game, and the feeling just looking at it was 'geez, if we just get another 50 runs real quick' which you can't do in this country. We've spoken about that, so it's not like it's something new. But pressure does strange things and we saw a lot of people go out and try and sweep their way to a score. It's not all doom and gloom, but the 90 minutes of batting certainly wasn't anything special," he added.
Venuto acknowledged that the sweep shot carries a high percentage of risk for players who aren't adept at playing it. He said that most of the Australian batters erred in using the shot as a method of trying to get off strike rather than trusting their defense to survive. He also mentioned that pressure does strange things, as they saw a lot of people go out and try and sweep their way to a score. However, it's important to stick to the game plan and swim between the flags, as going outside the flags will result in trouble.
Di Venuto praised opener Usman Khawaja's skill with which he swept his way to a series average of 150-plus in Pakistan last year and almost 50 on the subsequent Test campaign in Sri Lanka. He said that sweeping is part of Khawaja's game, but he picks the balls to do it smartly, not as a form of defense.
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Finally, Di Venuto described Smith's dismissal, which triggered the Australian collapse, as "unusual." He said that he hasn't spoken to Smith yet about it and where he's at. He thinks that Smith is excited about these conditions and loves these conditions.
