“Gill should have been out the first ball itself” - Former India captain’s blunt criticism after AUS vs IND 2025 2nd T20I

Former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth slammed the batters for their meek surrender to Australia's ace bowler Josh Hazlewood in the second T20I in Melbourne on October 31. After a no-result in the series opener due to inclement weather, the visitors' batters laid an egg in the second outing.

Opener Shubman Gill survived a first-ball LBW off Hazlewood before ultimately falling to the pacer for a 10-ball five. The veteran Aussie pacer also removed Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma in quick succession, leaving India in dire straits at 32/4 in the fifth over.

Talking about Team India's dismal batting display on his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said (10:50):

"Australia played this match with just one bowler, Josh Hazlewood. Yet he single handedly wrecked the Indian batting. Gill should have been out the first ball itself and then he got hit on the helmet also. After that he did not know what to do and eventually mistimed his shot to get out."

He continued:

"The extra bounce undid the Indians. A bit of extra bounce had everyone struggling except Abhishek Sharma. It's a shame he batted only 37 out of the 111 deliveries. They finished us with just one bowler in Hazlewood. But we had only one batter as everyone else was struggling, which is strange."

Despite Abhishek Sharma scoring a brilliant 37-ball 68, the rest of the Indian batting faded away to be bowled out for a sub-par 125 in the 19th over.

"Luckily for India, the T20 World Cup is at home" - Kris Srikkanth

Kris Srikkanth called out India's ineptness with the bat on bouncy wickets after their struggles in the second T20I against Australia. He also believes the Men in Blue are fortunate that the T20 World Cup next year will be played in home conditions.

"It was clear the Indians were not comfortable on good bouncy wickets. India were outplayed by great quality bowling from Hazlewood. Luckily for India, the T20 World Cup is at home. If it was in Australia or South Africa, opponents would bounce India out. In the end, they made Marcus Stoinis a star bowler," said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

The Indian bowlers fought valiantly at the back end of the Australian run-chase, picking up six wickets. However, the hosts completed their chase comfortably in just the 14th over to take a 1-0 series lead with three games remaining.