"If an Indian or Pakistani captain did this, he would be sent home" - Danish Kaneria on Pat Cummins' poor shot selection in 2nd IND vs AUS Test

Former Pakistan spinner Danish Kaneria was unimpressed by Pat Cummins' poor choice of shot in Australia's second innings in the recently concluded Delhi Test against India on Sunday, February 19.

Questioning the Aussie skipper's decision to play a slog sweep on the very first ball, Kaneria opined that Cummins should have batted more responsibly. He suggested that if an Indian or a Pakistani captain had gotten out in such a fashion, the team management would have asked him to return home.

Speaking on his YouTube channel after Australia's six-wicket defeat to India in the second Test, he said:

"The Australian batters don't know how to play in front of the stumps. They all got out trying to play the sweep shot. Being the captain, is this how Pat Cummins should have batted? He had a chat with Peter Handscomb as he walked out to bat. I think he was scared once he knew there was a lot of turn. If an Indian or Pakistani captain did this, he would be sent home the next day."

Notably, Cummins bagged a golden duck in the morning session of Day 3. The right-handed batter perished while attempting to play a slog sweep off left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. He was undone by the low bounce and the ball ultimately crashed onto his stumps.

Apart from Cummins, the rest of the Aussie batters too failed to put up a strong fight. The side lost nine wickets in the morning session of the day and were bundled out for a modest score of 113, setting India a 115-run target.

Rohit Sharma and Co. chased down the total without any drama, securing a six-wicket victory to go 2-0 up in the four-match series.

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"This defeat will make the Australian team cry" - Danish Kaneria on the Pat Cummins-led side surrendering to India

Danish Kaneria further stated that Australia would not be able to recover from the loss in Delhi. He pointed out that while the visitors had India on the backfoot at one stage, they had no answer once the home team fought back with the ball in the second innings.

He criticized the Australian batters for their overdependence on the sweep shot and the reverse sweep, suggesting that they don't have any other way to counter the Indian spinners. Kaneria also praised Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for giving long spells to Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

"This defeat will make the Australian team cry," the 42-year-old added. "This won't let them make a comeback. They had the upper hand over India at one stage. However, they didn't know what was to be done when India fought back.

"The Australian batters had no answers against the Indian spinners. They didn't know what to do and ended up blindly sweeping the ball. Ravindra Jadeja was fantastic with the ball, and Ravichandran Ashwin also used his experience very nicely. Rohit Sharma did the right thing by giving them long spells. Australia's scorecard looked like someone's mobile number."

With two matches still to go in the red-ball series, Australia will aim to come back stronger in the remaining fixtures. The third Test between the two sides will get underway at the Holkar Stadium in Indore on Wednesday, March 1.