Who said what - top 5 expert reactions on India's heavy defeat in AUS vs IND 2025 2nd T20I ft. Ravichandran Ashwin

Suryakumar Yadav-led India lost to Mitchell Marsh’s Australia by four wickets in the second T20I in Melbourne on Friday, October 31. With the loss, they also trail 0-1 behind in the five-match series. Notably, the series opener was abandoned due to rain after the Men in Blue played 9.4 overs in Canberra.

Asked to bat first, India never found themselves going, barring Abhishek Sharma. The World No. 1 batter top-scored with 68 runs off 37 balls with the help of two sixes and eight fours. The left-hander kept playing in his own league as wickets continued to tumble at the other end. Big guns Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, and Sanju Samson departed for single-digit scores.

Harshit Rana was the second batter to reach double digits, scoring a fighting 35 off 33 deliveries, hitting one six and three fours. After being promoted above Dube, he shared a vital 56-run partnership with Rana for the sixth wicket. Josh Hazlewood starred with the ball, finishing with figures of 3/13, while Xavier Bartlett and Nathan Ellis bagged two wickets each.

In response, skipper Marsh got Australia to a promising start, scoring 46 off 26 deliveries, comprising four sixes and two fours. Travis Head and Josh Inglis also chipped in with 28 (15) and a run-a-ball 20. The Aussies lost a cluster of wickets in the middle, but the target was never out of reach. They achieved the target with 6.4 overs to spare.

Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, and Kuldeep Yadav bagged two wickets for the tourists.

Following India's loss, several former cricketers like Ravichandran Ashwin and Kris Srikkanth slammed the Men in Blue for their poor show in the second T20I.

Ravichandran Ashwin

Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin believes that Arshdeep Singh should be the default pick in the playing XI following India's loss to Australia in the second T20I. The cricketer-turned-analyst stressed that the Men in Blue needed an extra bowler on the bounce-friendly pitch in Melbourne. The legendary spinner pointed out how Arshdeep has been repeatedly ignored in T20Is since the 2024 T20 World Cup. He said on his YouTube channel:

"When you talk about Arshdeep Singh, where is the direct replacement? Who can he replace? He can replace only one player, that’s Harshit Rana, right? The problem here, today’s debate, is whether we played this game with an extra spinner? Maybe. On this kind of pitch, where there was so much bounce and spice, we could have played an extra fast bowler along with Harshit Rana."

The 39-year-old continued:

"But my point is, Arshdeep Singh’s name should be the second name on your fast bowlers’ list when Bumrah is playing. And if Bumrah isn’t playing, then Arshdeep Singh becomes your first-choice bowler on that team list. I just cannot understand how Arshdeep Singh keeps missing out from the XI in this side. I really don’t get it. "Of course, Harshit Rana had a decent day with the bat, he came in and batted reasonably well. It’s not about him at all. It’s about Arshdeep Singh. The way he performed in the 2024 T20 World Cup, and yet since then, he has consistently found ways to stay out of the team. He’s been benched so many times when he should have been playing," he added.

Interestingly, Arshdeep Singh has been India's leading wicket-taker in T20Is. However, the left-arm pacer has played only 13 out of 24 T20Is since the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Kris Srikkanth

Former India cricketer Kris Srikkanth said that Indian batters were no match for Josh Hazlewood, who finished with stunning figures of 3/13 in his four overs. The 65-year-old added that Abhishek Sharma should have faced more deliveries since he looked in a completely different league. He said on his YouTube channel:

"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." "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," he added.

Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan has raised question marks regarding Shubman Gill's consistency in the T20I format. The cricketer-turned-analyst pointed out that the 26-year-old needs to deliver big time in the remainder of the series. Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former all-rounder said:

"Questions will also be raised about Shubman Gill. Look, Shubman Gill has replaced Sanju Samson, who had scored three centuries, to open the innings for India’s T20 team. He definitely has the potential, leadership potential as well, and as a player, he has shown in the IPL that he can score heavily. But now he needs to perform." "In his last ten innings, he hasn’t even scored a total of 200 runs, so the pressure will be on him. He’s getting opportunities, he’s getting the backing, but he needs to convert those chances into performances, which hasn’t happened yet," he added.

Notably, Gill has managed 169 runs in his nine T20Is, averaging 24.14 this year.

AB de Villiers

Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers said that India's newly appointed vice-captain, Shubman Gill, has flopped with the bat in the last few matches in Australia. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) legend said on his YouTube channel:

"There are good wickets in Australia. Maybe he’s not completely accustomed to the kind of bounce. There must be something, or he’s just human… We expect Shubman to score runs every single day." "So, maybe Shubman Gill is going through a patch like that, and he’ll work it out, guys. He’s a class player, class leader, and I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that he will be back. I think it’s more of a mental thing than technical. If it’s technical, he’ll get to the nets and sort it out. I don’t see any reflex. Yes, the performance is not there in the recent and short-term past, but there is plenty of cricket ahead. Plenty to look forward to, and it’s just up to him to sort of freshen up," he added.

Sadagoppan Ramesh

Former India batter Sadagoppan Ramesh slammed the team management for doing a lot of experiments in the batting order in the second T20I. The 50-year-old felt that there was no need to play Sanju Samson at No. 3 and drop Tilak Varma to No. 4. He said on his YouTube channel:

"India needs to stop playing musical chairs with their batting order. They would have had a great chance of winning if they had scored 160 to 170. Didn't Suryakumar Yadav play well at No. 3 in the last match? He was not out as well. Then why send Sanju Samson at No. 3." "He went from opening to No. 5 and now from 5 to 3. Because of this everyone is looking at each other in confusion on who might go in to bat next. Tilak Varma won India the Asia Cup final at No. 4 and you moved him to No. 5," he added.

Notably, Suryakumar Yadav dropped himself to No. 4 in the second game despite scoring an unbeaten 39 runs off 24 balls in the rain-abandoned first T20I.

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Edited by James Kuanal