"Maybe some in the team are just a little bit too comfortable" - Michael Vaughan detects complacency among Australian batters amid poor form
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has opined that Australian batters could use some competition to be aware that their spot in the playing XI is not guaranteed. The Men in Yellow were skittled out for a paltry 104 in the first innings of the first Border-Gavaskar series Test against India, and it has been a running theme for the batting unit this year.
Australia boasts an accomplished batting line-up that fired on all cylinders to help the side win the World Test Championship (WTC) in the previous cycle. However, David Warner's retirement, the saga that surrounded his replacement process, and poor returns by the backbone of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne have left the team in disarray.
In recent times, the team have been overly reliant on the lower middle order to bail them out. In New Zealand, it was the likes of Alex Carey and Pat Cummins, while in the first innings against India, a cameo from Mitchell Starc ensured that Australia recorded a three-figure total.
"If I was an Australian fan, I'd be concerned that there's just not the level of quality waiting to get into this team. Maybe some in the team are just a little bit too comfortable because they feel that they're not getting pushed from those outside of it," Vaughan said on Fox Sports' coverage (via ABC News).
There are slight concerns regarding the ageing batting unit, and if poor returns continue to follow, then the seeds of transition may well be planted after the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle.
"I just wonder what's underneath this batting line-up really pushing the standards in the first team" - Michael Vaughan
The former England skipper focused on Australia's bench when it comes to batting which is arguably not a stacked unit at the minute. Among the players not partaking in the ongoing series, Cameron Green is a realistic long-term prospect in the middle order. The team will soon have to kickstart their opener search all over again with Usman Khawaja about to reach 38 years of age.
"I just wonder what's underneath this batting line-up really pushing the standards in the first team. The standards generally get driven in a team because you've got many players pushing for places in it, and I just don't see too many doing that," Vaughan added (as per the aforementioned source).
"I just look back to Australian cricket when Australia had a batting line-up that had many world-class players in it, I reckon you had seven or eight world-class players not in it. And that's just in the batting department," Vaughan concluded.
The Australian batters have a Herculean task lined up for the final innings as India have already racked up a lead of 405 runs with five wickets remaining.