Australia's stand-in coach Di Venuto lauds India's performance in the T20 series
Michael di Venuto, who stepped into the shoes of Australian head coach Darren Lehmann, following the latter’s absence after being diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis, conceded that his side have been thoroughly outplayed by India in all departments of the game in the ongoing T20 series, IBN Live reports.
Australia head into the third and final T20 against the visitors at the SCG with only pride at stake, having been beaten comfortably in the opening two matches at Adelaide and Melbourne respectively. Di Venuto praised India for the victories and feels that his side is being thoroughly outplayed at the moment.
"We're just getting completely outplayed in all three departments at the moment, the bat, ball and the field," he told reporters at the Sydney airport.
The former Australian cricketer picked out the form of the Indian batsmen as well as the penetrating bowling from the spinners as crucial factors behind India’s success so far. Di Venuto was referring to the batting trio of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan as well as the performance from India’s spinners which proved crucial in India’s victory at the MCG.
"Their batters are in outstanding touch and have been all summer. We're struggling to get early wickets and get into their middle order," he said.
"They're playing exceptionally well, there's no doubt about that. I was pretty happy with our start with the bat, we were right on track but then spin again was our undoing in the middle overs."
The 42-year-old, however, refused to look into too much into the losses as he feels his side are missing several key players, such as ODI skipper Steven Smith and senior members like David Warner and George Bailey. He asserted that Australia will bear a completely different look once the established players are back in the side and is willing to wait for the decision from the selectors.
“We've had quite a few debutants so far throughout the series. We've got some players resting or heading to New Zealand to prepare for that. The make-up of our side might be completely different -- we'll just have to see what the selectors come up with," he said.
The hosts will be missing another key player in the form of skipper Aaron Finch who was ruled out of Sunday’s match with a hamstring injury. In-form batsman Usman Khawaja is expected to slot straight into the side at the opener’s slot and Di Venuto will be hopeful that his side can avoid a series whitewash against the Men in Blue.